


Dilectio

by AYangThang



Category: RWBY
Genre: AU, Adventure, Eventual Romance, F/F, F/M, Fantasy, First Time, Lesbian Character, Maidens, Occasional Futanari (Storyline Based), Oral Sex, Other, Relics of great power, Sexual Content, Vaginal Fingering
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:49:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 107,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27175469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AYangThang/pseuds/AYangThang
Summary: This Remnant is not one forged with dust and splendor. This is a world filled with messy conclusions and convoluted truths. It is a land of lords and ladies, war and famine. Legacies crumble, and new ones reborn. Grimm terrorize the peoples, indiscriminately and remorselessly. Faunus have suffered at the hands of humans for far too long. Yet, there is a greater threat than all of that. One that looms in the shadows and strikes fear into the countless souls that cross her path. This threat is known as Salem, the mother of all Grimm. While she is at large, no one is safe.In this world there are two women, fated to be unlikely lovers. A Faunus from a long forgotten homeland. A Schnee, a ruler to relic gifted lands. How can this unlikely pair come to terms with each other? How could they possibly find love, when all they know is hate.Chapters with only sexual content in them are separated to be skipped if you want to be able to. The chapter containing purely sexual content so far: 17 (more to come)
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Weiss Schnee, Glynda Goodwitch/James Ironwood, Winter Schnee/Yang Xiao Long
Comments: 13
Kudos: 68





	1. Chapter 1

** Dilectio  
Chapter 1 **

Remnant, it was a beautiful land filled with deadly creatures. How could something so intrinsically beautiful allow for creatures so ugly? It was a thought that Weiss had often mused about, finding the matter an interesting point to ponder. How could such a world hold also such malignancy? Why was it that the land was so imperfect, and yet incredibly balanced by its very nature? She often found her answers hidden within the pure conjecture that came at the end of her blade.

Never let it be said that she was a forgiving woman. No, she was colder than most by far. Why shouldn’t she be? It was what most expected of her, and she made absolutely no bones about that.

Weiss stalked through the forest with little regard to the foliage she snapped under foot. Irritation radiating outward to anything and anyone who might cross her path. She was absolutely infuriated, and there would be hell to pay if even the slightest breeze happened to blow in the wrong direction. Despite that, she had been raised to perfection. She wouldn’t allow a single hint of her thoughts be discovered. Not an ounce of her turmoil would show through her perfect image. It would have been unsatisfactory and unsightly.

Either way, it was indisputable fact that a grave misstep had been taken. One that could not be overlooked, no matter how much she wished to do so. If anyone knew the depth of this oversight she would be made into a laughing stock. No Schnee had ever been in debt to a Faunus before. No Schnee before this day had made such an inconceivably ill calculated error in judgment. It was beneath her, and yet, here she was. Humbled by forces that were beyond reason.

She had work to do, a menace needed to be swiftly expunged. That would never happen if she were subjected to further distraction. Humiliating enough, she had been doing so well, too. For once she had almost tasted victory, but that had been taken away too. She had only intended to spill the blood of one person that day, a woman by the name of Salem. The mother of all the creatures that sullied this world. She had been so close to her prize, but alas it was lost now. Salem had escaped her clutches.

Weiss could only reflect upon that, bitterly accepting failure because success hadn't been gained.

The moments leading up to this terrible day had seemed auspicious at first. She had attacked an endless wave of Grimm head on, leaving countless slaughtered as she made her way to Salem’s newest stronghold. She had tracked the vile stain upon Remnant for years, not a trace of her to be found until recently. Weiss had thought that for once she could reclaim her pride. That she could rip the very breath from the one being that had taken so much from her. She would never give Salem the same merciful death she might offer a human opponent.

To her, Salem was no more than a blight. She wouldn’t even dare to give the contemptible pile of waste a moment of hesitation. No, Salem was to be eradicated as soon as she was found. Although Weiss was a fine huntress, and the guiding monarch of her people located deep in the fortress known as Atlas, she rarely trifled in these matters. That was usually left to the fine huntsman and huntresses under her command. Yet, Salem was worse than even a Faunus, and every human knew what animals they were.

It was understandable then, that her ire knew no end. She could hunt too, and Salem would die at the end of her blade. She was sure of that.

She turned on a dime, listening to the otherwise tranquil sounds of the forests. Her keen senses were inherited by the creatures she’d slain and called upon as her minions. They had found something. What it was, she couldn’t be sure. She waited as the hesitant steps drew near. One of her favored beasts trotting up to her side as it growled softly. She did no more than impassively place a hand atop the Ursa shrouded in white. She would never allow it to make a ruckus unless the reason presented itself.

The moment that the source of the footsteps made himself known, Weiss sighed softly to herself. Her vassal was covered in mud, reeked a putrid stench because of it. Even in that, she wouldn’t offer a grimace. Wouldn’t give him even an ounce of slack to hang himself with. “A fine mess you’ve made this time, Jaune.”

“I’m sorry, my lady. I meant no disrespect to our cause.” He said dropping to his knees, weakly offering himself to her mercy. Then again, she was never known to be particularly merciful. He’d be cut down this time, he knew it. He just knew it.

“You are such a complete disgrace.” Weiss said to him, watching him quiver in a most unsightly way.

“I am, I won’t deny. I offer my deepest apologies for that.” He said, his voice unsettled as fear burrowed into him. He returned then to the one phrase safest to speak when no others were. The one that might save him. “Truly my lady, I meant no disrespect.”

“I should kill you, but you will not die today.” Weiss said plainly. She was strict, not a tyrant. With a wordless command she sent her Ursa in search once more. She needed to locate the child under her protection, and do it quickly. The girl last spotted with the Faunus in question. It was a fine line she walked, but it she balanced it with great pride. It didn’t absolve Jaune of her anger. It was his continuing ineptitude that further complicated these delicate matters. Still her ire was best placed aside. “Lift your head, I have no time for your worthless groveling.”

“Yes, my lady.” Jaune said, practically flinging himself upright. Mud flying in all directions as the man shook himself off. “Right away.”

If he were a smart person, which Weiss often doubted that he was, he would make himself unobtrusive. If he were in any possible way wiser for this failing, he would become scarce just as soon as they were back within the reaches of the fortress. She had every reason to despise him, all things considered.

“Follow.” She bit out as she turned on her heel. “I will not have you bumbling about this forest on your own any further.”

Jaune said nothing as they trudged on. A wise decision, all things considered.

In truth she had only herself to blame. She had left Jaune in the relative safety of the forests to keep watch over a young silver eyed girl. It was a long standing debt to a family friend. As the last worthy of her line to uphold that debt, the girl was under her strict protection. It wasn’t safe for such a powerful child to be left where harm could be done to her. However, with the hunt for Salem paramount, and her continued absence from the fortress walls, she was forced to keep the girl with her. Jaune her all too willing babysitter.

The man was no huntsman, though he aspired to be one. Weiss had swiftly determined he was good for one thing as a royal guard, and one thing only. Minding the small children that often found their way into trouble. It was a task that suited him well, at least within the confines the fortress. Where law an order went without question under her brutal demands. The girl was not to be harmed, a swift death awaited any who tried. Jaune’s abilities were not so wonderful outside of the fortress.

The task proved to be nigh impossible for him. It was clear to her now. Though, she couldn't completely blame him, either. Perhaps he could have been more suited to the task if it had been any other child. If only the girl under his watch was in the least bit behaved.

Even knowing that, Weiss felt that her confidence in his abilities were vastly misplaced. It might be best if she were to find someone more suitable to watch the little devil child in the future. Ruby was young, prone to following after her like a duckling. Her semblance made her quick, and Jaune had lost sight of the girl long enough for her to get lost. The forests were deadly, Weiss had no time to spare her concerns at the moment. The little speed demon could be anywhere by now, and that was yet another thing that made this day unacceptable.

“Um, my lady, if I may…” Jaune trailed off timidly.

Weiss spared a momentary glance over her shoulder. Any further notice would slow her down. She could feel her minions. They were on the child's trail once more. “This had better be more than inane blather.”

“It is! It’s just that well, you see-”

“Speak decisively.”

“Right, well it’s that I saw Faunus earlier."

"Ah."

"My lady, there were many of them.”

More useless information. She had already known of that, any simpleton would. These forests were littered with Faunus, high and low. They too searched for Salem, sought to end her entire being as swiftly as possible. “That is to be expected.” She told him dryly. Her tone promising that another word out of turn would spell strict punishment. If Ruby had somehow come to harm, she really would kill him.

“My lady, there were humans among them too.” Jaune continued. "Bandits, I believe, or much like them."

A brief scowl crossed her features. Even he had noticed that. If only he had known just how troublesome those humans were. Then he would understand the gravity of the situation, the dangers of it. “The bandit tribe in the area is not to be trifled with.” Weiss said as she felt her disdain for the tribe be lit anew. Nothing ever went smoothly when they were involved. If it hadn’t been for those meddling neanderthals, she may have been able to launch her surprise attack in peace. If she could have, she might have been able to land a finishing blow to Salem.

Her plans died ingloriously the moment that the fools showed up. The bandits were one thing, but that had not been all. Yang Xiao Long and her rag-tag group of miscreants did little more than put on profound displays of stupidity at every turn. If Yang had not gone charging in, swinging her fists around like a deranged lunatic, perhaps ground could have been gained. Yet, that was not what had happened.

“My lady, if I may..."

"What is it?"

"It's just that I wonder something. Where exactly are we going?” Jaune found himself asking as they moved much further away from the clearing that Weiss had once left them in. Ruby couldn’t have gone this far on her own. At least, he hoped she hadn't.

“To collect Ruby.” Weiss told him, biting back a silent curse at the mere thought of it all. One of her summons had an eye on the little one. Weiss could feel it calling to her.

* * *

Blake’s head was still spinning, and her day had taken a very strange turn. She didn’t recall much. Only that she landed with a hard thud against the ground. At little girl pressed against her chest, bright sliver eyes glancing down at her curiously.

“Uh…” Blake scratched her head, there was a lump there. One moment she was in hot pursuit of a pack of Grimm fleeing away from her friend’s position. The next, she was holding a little girl at arm’s length with no idea how she had gotten in the middle of the woods in the first place. “Are you okay?”

Ruby nodded slowly as she pushed herself up to sit on the woman beneath her. “Yep!”

“Well that’s a relief, at least.” Blake sighed, laying her head back down into the grass as she groaned. An aura could only take so much abuse in a day, and she had thoroughly spent hers before being blindsided by a little red ball of speed. “A little girl like you shouldn’t be out here.”

“Oh, it's okay. I was brought here.” Ruby said, not at all afraid of the dangers that lurked deep within these trees. “It’s alright for me to play here. At least, I think so. Hey! have you seen the flowers? They are pretty, aren't they? I want to pick some...”

“The flowers…” Blake deadpanned, a hand falling onto her forehead. This day just kept getting stranger. Steeling herself against the incoming migraine, she scooped the little girl up and stood. Holding her close so as not to allow her to find any danger. “What’s your name?”

“Hmm…” The little girl gave it some thought, but shook her head. “Nope!”

“Your name isn’t ‘nope’.” Blake groused dryly.

“Can’t tell.” Ruby said, remembering the strict rules that Weiss had given her. She wasn’t supposed to tell strangers her name. It was a bad thing. Weiss said so, and Weiss knew everything. “If I say, I’ll be scolded.”

“I think you’ll be in more trouble if we don’t get you back home.” The Faunus warned her. “How old are you? Can you tell me that?”

Ruby thought hard about that. It wasn’t a rule, so that was probably okay. The child counted on her fingers, as though she needed to confirm the fact for herself before speaking. After a moment she looked up at her captor. “I’m eight, I think.”

“You think?” Blake asked.

Ruby shrugged, it seemed about right. "I think, I don't know." She didn’t know her birthday, she never got to celebrate it like other kids. Weiss didn’t like them, often said that birthdays were just days like any other. It passed by. Although some people thought it was special, Ruby never thought much of it at all. "People say that I am, so I guess I am."

“Either way, you’re way too young to be out here on your own. You know that, right?” Blake asked, she could hear movement coming from the trees. Amber eyes trained on the location of the ominous sound. Out of reflex, her Faunus ears began twitching. The woman prepared for what might be another round with one of Salem’s newly born Grimm. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Nope, I gotta stay.” Ruby said, trying to get away from the woman. “Bye.”

“Bye?! You’re not going anywhere.” Blake complained as she shook off her shock. The little girl no match for her strong hold. “There’s Grimm in these woods.”

“Lemmie go!”

There was no way in hell Blake would let that happen. She grit her teeth as the little girl flailed around, and brought her face to face for good measure. "Okay you little brat, listen up! This is no time to be fooling around.” Blake half growled, getting a better grip on the girl just in case she had to make a run for it. “You shouldn’t be out here, and you’re not staying. We’ve got to go. This is getting dangerous.”

“No, it’s not.” Ruby said, pointing to the trees. She knew that Beowolf anywhere. “There’s a wolf.”

Blake whirled around, but what met her was no typical Grimm. It was something else. It was then Blake realized what trouble they were in. “Oh hell...”

“Release the girl at once.” The voice that slipped from the trees could have frozen that selfsame hell over. Worse still, that white hair made no mistake of just who she was. Weiss ordered a pack of summon to flank her, ready to do battle at her mere command. Jaune came stumbling up behind her falling flat on his face from pure exhaustion. She ignored him.

“Weiss!” Ruby said, waving at the two new arrivals with a smile. Completely oblivious that she had just gotten herself into a fair bit of trouble. “Weiss look, I found flowers!”

“You know her?” Blake asked.

“Yep, that’s Weiss.” Ruby said, pointing excitedly to her favorite person. “That’s why it’s safe.”

“It’s not safe, and that woman’s absolutely crazy.” Blake shot back, fully realizing she was fighting with a child. “There is no way this is going to be a thing… We have to find your parents.”

At that Ruby looked like she had been slapped, eyes watering as though she was about to cry. “I don’t have any…”

“Enough now.” Weiss demanded when the huntress in front of her looked as though she were about to speak. Ruby seemed in good condition. She would discipline the little hellion later, but for now only one question reached her thoughts. She had to be sure. “Have you been harmed?”

Ruby thought on this before shaking her head. “Nope! I was with the kitty girl. Before that I saw a frog and climbed a tree.”

Weiss did her best not to roll her eyes at the youngster. Instead she regarded the Faunus who seemed to have her in custody. “Your duty to the child has ceased. The girl will now come with me.”

“Over my dead body.” Blake bit out.

“If that is your choice.” Weiss said with the same displeasure that she usually carried with such matters. “Resistance would mean your death.”

“But I like her!” Ruby said, butting into the conversation.

“Silence, Ruby Rose...” Weiss said, giving the girl a pointed look that had her ducking under the cape that seemed to dwarf her.

Blake bit back a curse as she weighed her options. Weiss Schnee was not one to mess around with. The Faunus knew just how deadly picking a fight with her could be. She swallowed hard, it wasn’t so easy. If this little girl belonged to Weiss, and her name really was Ruby then that could only mean one thing. Something that Blake had heard stories of, but had never thought to really be true.

“You… you’re named Ruby?” Blake murmured softly, watching as the young child nodded at her from beneath her hiding place. This girl was Ruby Rose…

Yang’s little sister, Ruby Rose…

“I believe I asked you to release the child.” Weiss replied again, taking a single step forward. The Beowolves at her side rearing up on their hind legs, salivating. White and blue bodies almost like that of ghosts.

“Like hell you’re taking her.” Blake growled as her lips turned into a snarl. She knew of the little girl. She was the baby sister Yang hadn’t seen in years. “She’s not yours!”

“You know nothing about her.”

“You stole her, I know that.”

“Impressive, although not factual.”

“Yes it is. I know what happened.” Blake bit out defensively. “I know Yang, she told me what you people did. You took Ruby! You people took her away from her family, and you refused to give her back.”

Weiss raised little more than an impassive eyebrow at the accusation. Did this Faunus woman know nothing? Was she really so daft? It didn’t matter in the slightest. She had no need to explain herself to such a lowly creature, least of all a friend of Yang Xiao Long. “Place the girl down and get out of my sight.”

“What would a Schnee like you want with her anyway?” Blake asked desperately. Yang had been after her little sister for years trying to get her back. Releasing her now would be the worst thing Blake could do. If Yang ever found out, she’d be crushed. “She’s just a child.”

“Who are you to deem what that girl is?” Weiss asked, her cool expression not changing in the slightest. “Furthermore, who are you to spew this nonsense? To question me?” Weiss was no more than a woman cut of heartless stone to onlookers, and it was best kept that way. How she really felt about the matter wasn't something to dredge up.

“Who I am doesn’t matter.” Blake spat.

“You are a huntress, are you not?” Weiss didn't need to ask. The woman looked to be one, plain as the ears atop her head. “If you are part of Xiao Long’s fold, that is the only thing you could be.”

“That’s really none of your business, now is it?”

Weiss gave a soft sigh at length. “Listen well, huntress. If you do not release the girl, I will not spare you or this conversation any more of my time. You have already wasted enough of it. Put her down, step away, or I shall kill you.”

Amber eyes slit dangerously as she stared Weiss down. Blake was no match for Weiss and her little army of summons. Never, at least, with a child in her grasp. This woman killed Faunus in cold blood, and had taken countless lives. Would do so over and over again if they crossed her. Blake had a strong feeling Weiss would do the same to her. She’d never be able to clone herself with the girl in her arms, either. This showdown was doomed from the start, but to just give up so easily wasn’t an option either.

“I’m a Belladonna.” Blake told her. “You’re the last person on this planet I’d ever take orders from.”

Weiss didn’t even need to draw her blade. Her Beowolves descended, but it was the lightning quick flick of a few fingers that saw Blake rendered helpless with a mere glyph. Weiss sauntered up as the slain Grimm in her command snapped just inches from Blake’s limbs. It was like they knew they were not yet allowed to have a taste. That although they were ravenous, they would go hungry a little while longer.

Blake counted the breaths it took for Weiss to stand directly in front of her. Without delay the glacial lady of the lands plucked the girl from her arms effortlessly. As if Ruby was not held down by the same incredible weight that pinned Blake’s own body.

“Weiss, wait! You can’t kill her. Don’t you like the kitty Faunus too?” Ruby asked, almost as though it was an excuse.

“Go to Jaune, Ruby.” Weiss said snappishly, far too angry to have any words with the child at the moment. If she did, it would likely end in a firm scolding that would bring her to tears.

“No, you can’t kill her.” Ruby said sadly, her voice cracking. "It's not very nice..."

Weiss fumed, wishing she could simply tan the child’s hide and be done with it. Such extreme measures never solve anything, her own terrible childhood had taught her that first hand. The urge was rather strong though, and it was a battle of willpower to contain it. “Off with you, now shoo!” She ordered harshly. It was all she could muster without losing every ounce of that willpower. Therefore, it was best then, that she say no further words to the girl at all.

There would be time for correcting this atrocious behavior later. Much later, when she was far less angry. First there was the matter of this Faunus. Weiss sent the Beowolves to follow the little girl. She wouldn’t be needing them. She would make her point known with another method. One more tactful.

Blake swallowed hard, fearing the white Grimm might still turn and devour her. Then the tip of something sharp caressed her neck. The tip of the sword famed for ending countless of her kind.

Weiss wanted to leave this woman cold and dead, but that would make Ruby cry. She could not handle the crying. It would drive her mad. This Faunus deserved death for even crossing her, but Weiss would allow her life.

“I will say this once, and I will say this only once. You will educate yourself swiftly, or you shall be destroyed.” Weiss said firmly. “Ruby Rose is no longer your concern. She is under my sole protection. If you question that any further, you will end your life this day. Now then, our business has concluded. The only reason you are not dead at this precise moment is because despite your misguided motivations, you didn’t seek to harm her. However, I will not be so lenient again.”

She doesn’t have to die?” Ruby asked from afar, seemingly happy about that.

Weiss simply sighed. Swinging her sword in a wide arc she stepped away. The only causality was a single strand of black hair that fell from Blake’s head. Then she was freed, falling from the glyph and landing on her hands and knees. With ragged breath she watched as Weiss walked away. Ruby Rose went with her, happily riding on the back of one of the alpha beowolves. The girl chattering nonsense to the woman protecting her.

Blake had lost her chance.

* * *

The long day was at an end. Weiss reclined back on a nearby tree, considering her next move at length. It should have been so simple, the victory hers to partake. She had wanted it so badly, and now once again it eluded her. She was still angry at a great many things. Jaune’s unforgivable failings, Ruby’s brazed curiosity, her own oversights no matter how small. All of them weighed heavily upon her as she lazily watched over her charge. The rest at the camp refused to be so relaxed.

Jaune was struggling to get the child to put on her pajamas as she ran around in the nude. Ruby was highly unconcerned with the fact that she might catch a cold. The girl was a terror, there was no question in that. If the Schnee line had not taken her in as an infant, she would not be in this mess now. Weiss was positive most would think the girl to be a little barbarian. She could stop this idiocy in an instant, but she allowed Ruby her fun a few moments longer.

That Ruby's semblance induced havoc just so happened to torment Jaune was a happy coincidence. He’d never catch her, but to give up was not an option. He was doomed to play her hellacious game until she tuckered out. It might indeed prove beneficial. Perhaps a lesson would be learned about the importance of maintaining a firmer hand with her. A fact Weiss decided upon as she gazed upon the stars.

Ruby wasn’t easily tuckered out. Energetic as ever. After a little while longer enough was truly enough.

“Ruby.” The command was soft, but that was all it ever needed to be in moments like this. That alone would bring the girl to a halt. Bring her attention where it was most needed. Blue eyes met silver. “Get dressed for bed.”

“Okay!”

Jaune visibly deflated as Ruby ran over to him, the man exhausted beyond belief and grumbling as Ruby finally allowed him to slip a nightgown over her head. She popped her arms through the holes herself before scampering her way over to her favorite person. Weiss rolled her eyes, bracing for an accidental impact. Ruby stopped just shy of running into her. The way small toes fidgeted in the grass told Weiss that Ruby had barely managed to stop herself. That it was by pure chance at best.

Weiss felt no inclination to encourage the child. She was not going to invite the girl to join her or command the girl to leave her be. It simply wasn’t a concern, and Ruby seemed to do what she wished anyway. That she hesitated at all was perceptive, because Weiss was still displeased. She had needed to search for Ruby within the depths of the forests, and that had been unnecessary and unplanned. Even if the exact reason was lost to the child, the ire Weiss carefully contained was not.

Ruby was young, but she was far from dimwitted. She knew that Weiss was angry at her for something.

Knowing this Weiss sighed slowly, averting her gaze. She was not a particularly warm person. Icy was an apt description, followed quickly by foul tempered and aloof. Vanity came with its own sense of pride, but that came from her need to be such a way in the first place. Ruby placed a finger to her mouth, sucking on it thoughtfully in an attempt to sooth her own uneasiness. She wanted something from her keeper, but she hadn’t received an ounce of prolonged attention today. Proof that she had been bad in some way.

When Weiss wasn’t happy, neither was she. Her eyes began to water, a sniffle drawing blue eyes back towards her.

Weiss was not moved by the sight at all. It did nothing to soften her anger. She was beyond furious, and that would not ebb over a pout and a few tears. Ruby had defied her, it could have been a costly mistake. The girl had no idea, blissfully ignorant that she had a target painted upon her back. Her silver eyes coveted by so many, and for reasons that were not always upstanding. The cold glance merely unsettled Ruby more, upset her. The child simply didn't understand. Would not come to understand until she grew old enough to see the darkness in the world.

Despite her rage, to be needlessly cruel was a pointless act. Finding the right words for a mere child was that last thing Weiss would do. When she found herself in such a foul mood it just wasn’t an option. She had concluded that it just wasn't possible long ago. Even if she were to calm away the tears falling down Ruby’s cheeks, it changed nothing about how angry she was. No words then, only an action. Weiss merely lifted her into lap, saying nothing to her motivations. Leaving them entirely up to Ruby to decide upon for herself.

It was likely not the best way to tend to the girl, but then Weiss had sworn to protect her. She had made no promises about the ability to raise her. That was merely how it had ended up. It was fate, if anything could really be classified as such a thing.


	2. Chapter 2

** Dilectio  
Chapter 2 **

Yang had been fixated on having her little sister returned to the family. It was the one thing that kept her going in this world. Yang acted with such amazing conviction, because was sure that one day she would be able to save her.

Blake had thought the matter entirely impossible. She amused Yang because talking about Ruby was a comfort to the blonde. However, for years Blake had kept her own thoughts to herself. She had firmly believed Ruby died years ago. That there was no way the small baby survived the abuse of a Schnee. Blake had never once truly believed that anyone could survive that, least of all an innocent little girl. Yang kept a painting of Ruby close at hand, looked at it often enough.

Blake had been sure that was just a bad habit. That there was no possible way Ruby would actually be out there in the world somewhere.

Rumors had been twisting around for years. Murmurs that the Weiss Schnee kept the small child at her side. It was difficult to believe that any Schnee would have taken a mere village baby. That the Schnee family of all people would see that little child as something of value. Yet, there was no mistake about it. What had once been rumor now stood undeniable.

The fortress was impregnable. For years Yang had tried to get in, and for years she failed. Now though, the small child was walking the wilderness. Blake knew that this was her once chance. Part of her wanted to find Yang, tell her of the news herself. If she did that, she risked losing Ruby's trail. Blake couldn’t lose track of them. Retrieving Yang’s strength would take too long, but going alone could be deadly.

She would need to chance it, she had to. It made the situation no easier on her. It didn’t mitigate her fears. Her only asset was the cover of nightfall, keener senses than those of a human her primary advantage. Maybe, if she crept soundlessly she could pluck the child up and flee her towards the bandit camp. Raven was by no means a kind woman, but she would protect the child. Loyalty meant something to her. While getting Ruby back was Yang’s crusade, Raven wouldn’t be so crude as to deny the child shelter and her protection.

The bandits stood a chance of defending the child, perhaps they were the only chance she might have against someone like Weiss. Blake couldn’t help but feel an insane desperation to have someone stronger than herself by her side. She was not the competent fighter that Yang could be. Neither one of them matched Raven even slightly. Blake prided herself as a tactician first and foremost, but that alone was not enough. She needed the raw skill, and that was her ultimate failing.

Weiss had a fearsome semblance. Everyone born as a Schnee did. It was not something so easily brushed aside.

As Blake suspected, creeping soundlessly in the depth of night solved nothing. The companions that the woman kept growled lowly. The slain monsters called back from the depths of hell itself, those white Grimm had taken notice. She was discovered, could see it plainly in the way vibrant blue eyes followed her shadow. Weiss didn’t need to see every detail to know that someone was lurking near the camp. All she needed to know was that a threat loomed at all. There was nothing Blake could do. She bit back her own fear as she pressed forward. She had questions after all.

Complicated ones.

She may not get her hands on the girl, but if she could just find out something worthwhile...

“Don’t move an inch.” It was a quiet demand, one made earnestly as Weiss stepped forward. “I thought I made myself clear. You were to turn away, huntress.”

“You did. However, I cannot comply.” Blake said, a soft intake of air not nearly enough to settle her nerves. Her only advantage was the darkness. Now it was all but worthless. It would only be of use if she intended to run. That wasn’t in her plans, not in that single breath. “Ruby Rose does not belong to you. She has a family waiting for her. An elder sister who misses her terribly.”

“A sibling by half. Yang Xiao Long is not sufficient protection for such a young child.” Weiss only continued to draw near until she could see the Faunus beneath the pale moonlit night. "Ruby Rose requires more than you could ever offer, huntress. Leave us."

“I don’t believe that.” Blake said, her fists clenching, knowing an attack would never land. Those white Grimm surrounded her from the depths of night itself, she’d be mauled or cut down before she could strike. “She’s just a villager’s baby. Born to a peasant mother and a father with so little land to his name he can hardly be proud of it. How could a girl like that be under your protection? It makes little sense.”

“The nerve you have, following me when I once chose to spare your life. I warned you, and yet you stand before me speaking of things you know absolutely nothing about.” Weiss said, feeling her blood boil. Was a night to be left to her thoughts so much to ask? It seemed the universe had a sick sense of humor. “As I said, she is under my protection. The girl is not your concern.”

“Is that what you say about all of the slaves at your disposal?”

“I don’t keep slaves, it would be beneath me.” Weiss said, seething blue eyes meeting those of intimidated amber. They glinted beautifully at night, nearly molten. Quite lovely, if Weiss was even remotely honest with herself.

"I don't buy that for a second." Blake shot back. "I'll bet you keep a lot of them, but a kid? That's a line too far crossed."

“Your ignorance is astounding." Weiss said viciously. For all of this strange woman's beauty, she was nothing more than the animal. Just like all of her kind. "You know nothing of that child. You do not even fathom what she will be capable of. Furthermore, you know nothing about me. Nothing of the consequences of allowing that child out of my sight. Despite that ignorance, you imply I should leave the girl to a family who would be powerless to protect her. By your choice, blind as it is, you’d place her into the direct path of danger. Perhaps, you’d even allow her to die.”

“That wouldn’t happen.”

“It would without question. The girl would end up in a pool of her own blood, and you would be powerless of avoid it.” Weiss said sternly. “Now leave before I slaughter you.”

“You could at least thank me for keeping her out of trouble. She was going to run off again if I hadn’t stopped her.” Blake huffed. “You’re just lucky she didn’t become Grimm chow.”

“I have thanked you, repeatedly. The debt I owed has been repaid.” Weiss turned around, aiming to return to the light of the fire. “After all, you’re still breathing, aren’t you?”

* * *

There was nothing worse than returning to the bandit camp empty handed. They weren’t permitted behind the wooden walls, but then, they weren’t real bandits either. Yang was only allowed to be so close to the entry because she was Raven’s daughter. Only the ones who swore complete loyalty to Raven would have access to the camp. For some people it would be a privilege, for Yang becoming a bandit would be a nightmare. She couldn’t do that. It went against so many things she stood for.

While it strained what little relationship she kept with her mother, Raven wasn’t completely unreasonable. There had been times when Raven had tossed out food and supplies. Booze to numb aches, and bullets to stay alive. Yang hated accepting such backwards help, occasionally it would kept her up at night. She always repaid the debt in some way, and that was burdensome too.

Blake sat next to nearby stream, watching the water flow as she admitted her failings to Yang in grave detail. Yang washed up, likely in search of something to do as she listened. Her eyes flashed, gentle lilac burning red as Blake continued to recount the events. Eventually she could take no more. She had heard the thing that hurt most.

Blake had been so close. It just wasn’t close enough.

Yang couldn’t help it. She was more than a little angry, this was a blow that would knock her flat if she let it. Her semblance flared t life as she stood up and landed a direct hit to a nearby tree, crackling the poor thing in half as it topped to the ground. “Damn it!”

“I’m sorry, Yang.” Blake murmured, and she had far too much to be sorry for. Firstly, for not believing her best friend. Secondly, for everything else. There was too much that had gone wrong. None of it seemed right.

“No...” Yang grunted as she pounded at the tree again, splintering bark in every direction. “Don’t do it, Blake.” She grunted as she pounded the fallen tree again with all her might. Finally the fire within her burned out. “Don’t you dare apologize…”

“If I had tried to find you-”

“Wasn’t going to work. Couldn’t even risk it.” Yang interrupted, as she turned to her friend. “You knew you’d lose them.” She fell onto her knees, grabbing her shoulders, shaking her just enough to get her to look up into those angry red orbs. “You knew that, you made a judgement call."

"It wasn't a very good one." Blake said. "I'm so sorry."

"Nah, don't be. You did what you felt like you had to do." It was a crushing blow to be sure, but one Yang had personally struggled with more times than she could count. "Hell if I know if that was the right choice to make or not, but there’s no going back now.”

“I know.” Blake said quietly. The fact she crossed paths with Weiss Schnee bothered her. Everything about that woman just rubbed her the wrong way. She didn’t expect even the slightest hint of respect, but to be talked down to in such a way stung deep. Weiss had called her ignorant, had proclaimed she knew nothing at all about the girl. Blake couldn’t even deny it. She knew nothing more than Yang’s old stories.

Memories that were so faded, there was no way they could be completely factual.

Yang could only lower her head, defeated. “If I had just known how close she was… Can't go now, we don't have the manpower... Shit...”

“Nobody knew for sure, and it was just luck that I ran into her. If it’s any consolation, Ruby seems okay.” Blake was still surprised by that. Amazed she could so readily say such a thing. She doubted it, or rather, she wanted to doubt it. She wanted anything that would invalidate the words of a Schnee. Anything to soothe the ache. What was Ruby to that chilly woman anyway? Why was Weiss so invested in protecting her? Was it merely that Weiss had formed some form of bond with the girl? Was it pity?

It still made little sense hours later.

Blake shook her head roughly, gritting her teeth and growling obscenities under her breath at her own stupidity. Weiss had said something about the girl being powerful. If that was true, she probably wanted that power for herself. It rolled her gut to think of something that sinister, but she’d never put it passed a Schnee to think that way. Telling that to Yang would only dampen her spirits or send her into a wild rage, and Blake couldn’t dare to speculate because of it.

“We need to go back to camp.” Yang told her, gathering her rucksack as Blake scurried to do that same. “Winter’s waiting for us.”

“You’re probably right.” Blake said, her own voice cracking unpleasantly as she cleared her throat. “That’s one thing Winter never tolerates well.”

“Well, can you blame her?” Yang it was then that smiled a little. A true expression that cooled Yang’s normally vitriolic temper.

“With the trouble you get into?” Blake asked rhetorically, stuffing her arms into her sleeping kimono, a gift from her parents. It had been years since then. “You’re just lucky that she’s always there to keep you out of it.”

Yang only nodded at that small point of contention. “Yeah…”

Blake was too distracted by her thoughts to notice the shift in Yang’s voice. Even if she had, there would have nothing to be done about it. Instead her own mind drifted, and this time it was to Winter. A former Schnee, a woman who had renounced her name and walked away from the fortress. That she had joined Raven’s tribe wasn’t lost on Blake. The implications of that were staggering. As a huntress she could only respect Winter’s own combat prowess. As a Faunus, she couldn’t stomp down her curiosity about the older woman.

Winter never spoke of her past, refused to.

As a child in training, her father had spoken at length about the Schnee’s. They’d sit under the stars and simply talk. His large hand falling over her shoulders in a half hug even as he spoke about the many humans that ruled over the lands. The Schnee were only one of them, but, they were the nearest threat to the family. The most deadly to them. He once said that they were prideful, possessive to a fault and belligerent. They held their lands with an exacting and ruthless power. What was theirs was never to be questioned, and they would kill to prove it.

His words had certainly proved true when it came to Winter, despite her abdication of the throne. It still surprised her that such terrible qualities had their own virtues. Winter was unquestionably vicious at times, vitriolic others, a ruthlessness all her own. Her softer emotions were cloaked by her actions on occasion. Despite this, her loyalty to the bandit camp went without question. Her bond with Yang was filled with its own profound sense of gratitude and compassion. It was almost tender, as though Winter intended to protect Yang fiercely. To proudly and boldly keep Yang at her side seemed an important goal.

Perhaps then, it was that the Schnee siblings were not so dissimilar. Perhaps Weiss had seen something special in Ruby, something that she too wanted to protect. That the definition itself held no ulterior motive besides whatever connection they shared. The girl’s youth making it all the more important to Weiss that she be looked after to satisfaction. In this dangerous world that Grimm infested, such things didn't always come easy. Made worse perhaps, that she thought bandits and Faunus beneath her. Two factions that Winter frequently called comrades.

It probably agitated Weiss to no end.

Upon reaching the outskirts of the camp, a common sight greeted her.

Winter sat on a wooden box of goods, one leg crossed over the other as she precariously balanced a clay cup on her knee. It was likely filled with grog. Beside her a young girl named Ilia kicked her feet on the other nearby box. The pre-teen was chattering away about the leaf she’d found on the forest floor, likely raising Winter’s temper. She had little patience when it came to children. Sun Wukong was nearby, frowning down at the stewpot that he stirred continually. He seemed concerned about it, but Blake had faith. He was an incredibly skilled cook when it came to finding forage on the road. His sweet fruit based desserts were to die for.

The smell from the pot made her mouth water. She had been a bit hungrier than she expected.

“Oh man, is that dinner?” Yang asked, chucking her backpack to the side and sitting down. Rubbing her hands together as she warmed them by the fire.

“Yang, you’re back.” Ilia said jumping down from the crate and hugging the blond excitedly. An embrace Yang willingly returned.

Winter made no move from her place, but the way her eyes shimmer within the firelight spoke of her pleasure at seeing Yang return safe and sound. “I would not call it dinner. It seems better to call it a concoction.” Winter told Yang dryly. “Or at least his best attempt. There was not much to find today. I offered to bring some of the stocks from the camp, but Sun refused.”

“Every time we borrow food we pay for it. Last time Raven has us working our butts off for days.” Sun replied, ripping open a small packet of spices and upending them into the pot. “I can’t really say I’m a fan of her way of doing things.”

“Yeah, not a fan of that, either.” Yang agreed. “This looks fine to me.”

“Well, I don’t know if it’s the best thing we’ve ever eaten.” He murmured, bringing the wooden spoon to his mouth. He rolled the broth around in his mouth before swallowing. It wasn’t half bad, but to say it was good would be an understatement. “Sure isn’t the worst, though.”

“It smells delicious.” Blake told him. “I’m sure it’ll be just fine.”

“Smells way better than it tastes.” He shrugged, flicking his tail.

“This is why you should have allowed me to bring materials from within the camp.” Winter told him. “We had lamb at the bonfire, I found it satisfying.”

“Nah, you start eating like kings, you start to forget how to make forest floor garbage taste good.” Sun told her, and that he firmly believed. “I’m going to settle down one day. When I do, I’ve gotta be able to cook within my means.”

Winter was not so sure. “It is generally a woman’s job to see to the fire and tend the meal.”

“Hey now, the ladies like it when you cook for them." Sun said, his grin bright. "They find it very attractive.”

“That is what the skill reduces down to for you, now doesn't it?"

"Well, so what if it does?"

"Lecherous bastard.”

"Hey, I didn't mean it that way! You know, guys can cook every now and then. It doesn't kill us to help around the house. My dad did it all the time."

Ilia merely watched curiously from the safety of Yang’s lap. She didn’t understand why adults often argued so much. She looked up at Yang, trying to determine if this was a bad sort of argument. Lilac eyes held no sign of a threat, and that was enough for the young orphaned Faunus. If Yang wasn’t worried, it would be fine.

Yang rolled her eyes as the two argued. Elbowing Blake in the side, she gave her a hopeful glance. “Cool them down, Sun listens to you way better.”

Blake nodded. The Faunus woman returning the glance with small smile of her own as she returned their attention to the simmering meal. “Well I for one enjoy when a person chooses to cook especially for me. I find the gesture very considerate. You know, my father often cooked our meals. In many ways he considered himself a gentleman. When my mother or I would catch a cold, he’d worry himself over every soup he made until we felt better.”

“There, ya see that, Winter?” Sun said, throwing his thumb in Blake’s direction. “Blake finds it gentlemanly.”

“She said her father thought himself to be one.” Winter spat, not at all amused. “Not that she personally found it so.”

"She's talking about her dad. There is no way he wasn't a gentleman."

"Compared to you, certainly." Winter scoffed.

“He was, in his own ways. I suppose he wasn’t exactly chivalrous, but he always took care of us. We never went without, thanks to him.” Blake said softly, frowning a bit before she pushed away the memories for a later time. It wouldn’t due to sadden herself right now. “We’ll see if your stew can measure up to my father's. That will be the true test.”

“Then hopefully I can measure up to his impeccable standard.” Sun said with a nod, comforted by Blake’s words.

Blake merely accepted the way his eyes twinkled, his grin filling his face in a way so earnest even she couldn’t completely ignore it. She blushed softly at him, mildly embarrassed whenever his sights turned to her. She found comfort in his companionship, his flirtatious ways amusing. Still, Winter wasn’t incorrect in her observations of him, either. He was a bit unpredictable, and his search of a nice young woman extended to her as well. She hadn’t given much thought to it, but his intentions had not been completely pure of heart.

Then again, what man’s were? She had to wonder. He wanted a family and that was clear. He searched for a woman who might willingly go to his bed and give him children. He sought nothing more than a fine young woman to welcome him home with open arms and a smile across her face. He dreamed at length about sons to follow in his footsteps and daughters to dote upon. He once said he’d wanted many children, and that too was natural to him, she supposed.

Was it so terrible to want to build a home and enjoy a family? Were his ambitions really that terrible?

Likely, it wasn’t so wrong at all. This was the hope of most men, she assumed. It was certainly the way her father had lived his life. Happy to have a family. Simply to have a place to call his own. It was normal, expected to a degree. Just as it was the drive of most women to be cared for, loved, and cherished by another. Unfortunately, she was not like most women. She had something she needed to do, and it had to come first. She could not rest, and never dare settle until her own ambition saw completion.

Asking Sun to wait for that day just wasn’t fair to him. He was a good man. If she asked him to wait for her, he would.

That was why she could not amuse his advances, not seriously. The poor man might wait his entire life. Wasting it while waiting for her. She knew one day they’d part ways. That his journey would come to an end. He’d find the love of his life and stay in her village to woo her. He’d live the life he dreamed of, while she would continue on her own quest. He was a very dear friend, he always would be. It was simply unfortunate friendship was where their bond would stay.

* * *

There were times Blake simply wanted to be alone to her thoughts. Occasionally she set out on her own. Away from her companions, where she might find her own respite. This happened most often when Yang stayed at length outside of the bandit camp to rest and resupply. Times she would visit her father, and others when she would idle the days at the bandit camp with Winter. There were sometimes weeks at a time when the group made no plans to move, aiding nearby villages and dispatching Grimm. Winter would accompany Yang during those times, although it was usually begrudgingly.

Winter was not a huntress, didn’t see herself as someone who owed the people her protection. Her loyalty was to Raven and that always came above most other matters. Yang could squeeze out imperceptible empathy from the woman, goad her to join in despite Winter’s constant complaints. Likely, that was the sort of thing going on right now. Sun and Yang finding a cause to aid the people while Winter was inadvertently dragged along for the ride.

Blake had other places to be. Other jobs needing to be done.

She stood at the edge of the river nestled deep within the forest. Her ears flicking against the gentle sound of the water as it drifted on by. She set down her wicker basket, kneeling beside it as she inspected all of the clothing needing to be washed. A soft, barely there sigh escaped her lips as she picked up an old uniform. The blue and white armor had certainly seen better days. The image of her people faded, hidden beneath the aftermath of one too many battles. It was flat out filthy, but the edges were frayed too.

As one of her fingers slipped through the hole left behind by the teeth of an Ursa, she could do more but scowl down at it with vexed golden eyes. The rips were minor she supposed. It was better that the armor fulfilled its intended goal, rather than being ripped to pieces herself. Aura was only so powerful, and the monsters that roamed the land hungered for it.

She forced herself to set old sentimentalities aside. The days of the blue and white flag were gone now. The echoes of that history were starting to wane, and she merely kept the garment as a reminder of the promises she had made. She rarely wore it in dangerous battles anymore, it was too old to truly protect her. To be honest, she was surprised it still fit.

Still, whenever she wandered the landscape it felt good to wear the White Fang’s fallen symbol boldly across her back. The last standing warrior of a time when they made strides. Work as a huntress occupied her time these days, and Grimm were steadily becoming more dangerous. There were plenty of poor villages in need of her services, and many more that welcomed her when she passed by. It felt good to be worth something, to have some small value to pass onto the world.

Yang had helped her to see that.

Like all huntresses who chose to aid others for the sake of it, she didn’t have a great deal to her name. Enough to get by, a little to spare. If nothing else, it afforded her a small ounce of peace. Even so, it didn’t diminish the one thing she really wanted to do. She wanted to take down the mother of all Grimm, remove her from existence and rebuild her father’s legacy. Menagerie had once been the largest tribe, homeland to countless Faunus, and she aimed to fly its flag once more.

It was with a fraction of hope that she might one day find her parents, but she doubted they were even still alive. Her father at least was sure to be dead, there was no way he still lived. No chance, no hope at all, but Blake clung onto it anyway.

“Are you okay?” Ilia asked softly, flicking the mud off of her bare feet.

“I’m fine.” Blake said, lying. She wasn’t. Coming home always hurt. It never got easier. She didn’t like to bring the girl, but Yang had asked her to. Hunting Grimm was not safe for a child, and it would have been wrong to leave her alone outside the fortifications of the camp. The bandits wouldn’t protect her, didn’t see the use in it. She wasn’t one of them. Raven's loyalty to Yang didn't extend to Ilia. It never would.

“Sun packed us some fruit.” Ilia said, holding an apple aloft. “Want some?”

“He packed it for you.” Blake told her, as she began to scrub her clothes.

“For us.” Ilia said, as though it wasn’t even a question. “He likes you.”

“He likes you too.” Blake said with a shrug.

“But it’s not the same.” Ilia said with a small shake of her head. “He _likes_ you, likes you.”

“Maybe.” Blake said. The young Faunus was perceptive, Blake would give her that. Although even if she wasn’t, Sun was simply the sort of person to look after the people he cared about.

“Do you like him?” She wondered curiously.

“A little.” Blake said, because the prying wouldn’t end otherwise. Ilia was twelve now. Old enough to starting being curious about adult relationships and asking awkward questions. Those questions were usually reserved for parents, but the girl had none. "He's a good person."

“Good.” Ilia nodded, satisfied.

Blake sighed at that. "I suppose so."

Yang had been the one to find Ilia small handful of years ago. The forest couldn’t compare to a home and a family to love her. Ilia wasn’t interested in that. She started a fuss every time Yang spoke to a new headman, trying to coax her gently into finally finding a place to say. Many had offered to take her in, but the waterworks never ebbed at the thought. Yang had even once attempted to leave her with Taiyang, her own loving father. She had the best of intentions, planning to leave Ilia with him on his small farm. It was safe there, nestled away in a sleepy village known as Patch.

That failed too, rejected with kicking and screaming the moment Yang brought it up. To Ilia, not even Yang’s own father was good enough. Yang had been confused by that, but Blake could understand. The bond had already been made. The girl had imprinted on them, as Faunus children were swift to do when lonely and terrified. In her mind, she already had her newly found family, she didn’t need any other. The idea of separation was devastating to anyone, but most painful to a child above of all else.

Blake suspected that was why Ilia was so keen for the adults to like each other. It was with simpleminded logic that if they were always together, they’d never truly part ways. Her new found family would always be together. It was a nice fantasy perhaps, but reality was just too cruel. Time would spate them, as time itself never stopped flowing. One day, Ilia would learn that for herself.


	3. Chapter 3

** Dilectio  
Chapter 3 **

Ilia thrashed in her sleep. She often did. The girl suffered from nightmares, even now. She had gone through horrors that no child should have. Her past was only another reason to hate the Schnee family. The former head of the family pushed away the Faunus from what he considered to be human lands. Jacques, the contemptible bastard he was during his reign, had no mercy for Faunus. He had killed her parents in cold blood. The reason? They were Faunus with no discernable traits to mark them as the Faunus they were.

He was a man who’d end a Faunus for that reason alone. Her trait was in her skin, buried deep. The coloration of emotion was what clearly distinguished her from humans at a glance. As a Faunus who could hide herself among them, she was the worst sort of Faunus. The type who could pretend to be human.

Blake couldn’t help but pity Ilia. How the girl had survived came down to luck. He hadn’t noticed her in his spree of culling, and she had been left alone. Beyond that, Ilia didn’t talk about her past. Even bringing it up would move her to silence and tears. Blake sighed as she ran her fingers gently thorough Ilia’s bangs. That’s what Yang would do, but Yang was not here with her.

As she continued the act, her thoughts drifted to her own past. It was no less hellacious. The only difference was that she had been older. Well trained. More able to cope.

Her home had fallen at the hands of Salem, torn to bits because the monstrous woman knew only destruction. A once proud tribe of Faunus hunters wiped out in only a night. Their people had scattered, knowing that survival depended on dividing the Grimm horde. Her family had been separated that night. She remembered it perfectly. A small sister tribe falling to their knees bloody and terrified, saying that hell itself was on their heels.

After that, messengers were dispatched to the rest of their brethren telling them to flee as far as possible. Well away from Salem and her Grimm. In the panic, her father’s order came down one hour after dark.

He lay two options before his own tribe and the survivors of the other. They could stand as the last line of defense between Salem and the tiny tribes that stood no chance at all. The first was to buy their bothers and sisters time to escape, and pray for the best. The second was to run away, saving themselves. Blake and her mother wouldn’t even allowed the option of a choice. Ghira sent Kali away to the north with the old, sickly, children, and those unable to do battle. Her job was to protect them and lead them to safer ground, collecting any others she found along her way.

Blake was sent with a small contingent of brethren to the east, bating most of the horde to follow after them. They were to face the Grimm, dispatch as many as they could. Pray it was enough, and locate any others that managed to survive. Her father, chieftain to his people, stayed behind with the bravest souls to fight Salem. To hold the line, impossible as that was, to the last breath.

Out of Blake’s group she was the only one to survive. That alone was only made possible because Yang had found her bleeding out and beheaded the Grimm about to rip her neck out. It was pure chance, that was all. It took months to recover, countless hours spent in a tent surrounded by humans who looked down on her. When she returned to her home, it was to find homes destroyed and the graves of those brave men and women laid to rest. Apparently, that had also been done by Yang.

The blonde refused to take any credit for it, but the distance in her gaze had said it all. Yang had honored the dead. She was the one that carried that burden when Blake was too hurt to do so herself.

“Blake?” Ilia asked softly as she woke.

“Hmm?”

“I want Yang…” Ilia said, curling up into a tiny ball beneath the tattered blankets that Blake used when she stayed in her old home.

Blake sighed. “Hey, it’s okay, it was only a nightmare…”

“It’s not a nightmare if it’s real.” Ilia said, but she wanted any comfort she could find. She always did after such a dream. Taking Blake’s invitation to join her, Ilia curled up against the wall, laying her head on Blake's chest. There she could hear Blake's heartbeat. The sign of life to drown out everything the shadows taunted her with. That she dragged the blanket with her like a cocoon was only because she felt a little chilly. "They won't go away, do they?"

"I don't know, hasn't happened yet. You're right though. It hurts when bad dreams mix with reality.” Blake agreed with a soft murmur, wrapping an arm around the younger Faunus as the girl cuddled into her side and started sniffling. Blake could only feel that it was right to weep. To release the emotional poison that the dream itself had inflicted.

“Can we go back tomorrow?”

It was a hopeful question, and Blake could tell that Ilia truly wished to return back to the outskirts of the bandit camp. There would only be one reason why she would even want to go back, and that reason would be sorrowfully absent if they went back so soon. There was no point to hide the truth, but Ilia wouldn’t like it.

“There’s no reason to return to the camp right now.” Blake said, trying to maintain some level of authority in her voice. That of a huntress, holding a high confidence in her assessment, if little more. In the end that strength waned out. “Yang won’t be there...”

“Oh…” Ilia visibly wilted at the news, fingers clinging to Blake's sleeping kimono. “I thought her mission would be a short one.”

“It is a short one.”

“Then she should have arrived back by now, shouldn’t she?” Ilia asked, afraid that Yang’s mission had taken her to a far and deadly place.

Blake mentally kicked herself. Yang was blunt and honest, Ilia seemed to like that coming from the blonde. However, it was only the blonde. No one else could get away with the things Yang did. Ilia adored her, and with good reason. Yang was so earnest, she knew nothing of deception. Blake found it difficult to remember that. That Ilia was no stranger to the complicated cloak and dagger games no child should be privy too. Living a lie most of her life, pretending to be human had warped her a little. Ilia learned deception as a means to survive, and that had taught her how to distrust others.

A child should have never learned such a cruel trick. She shouldn't have needed to be taught how to deceive willingly, and to see through deception herself. It would be easier for Ilia if she had a place to call home. A place with structure and routine. Predictability where it mattered most, such as home cooked meals and a roof over her head. That she refused to leave the group that had found her didn't help one bit. It promised she would continue to live a hard and taxing life. There were no comforting promises as a huntress. No firm guarantees of a happy life.

Honesty was easy when the facts were cold and calculated. It was much harder to be honest to Ilia when trying to provide comfort.

“The mission itself is a short one. It’s the travel that isn’t.” Blake said, trying her best not to let Ilia’s spirit dwindle further into despair. “It takes a while to get from the coastal villages back to the bandit camp. It is a rather nice walk though. Very pretty this time of year.”

“Why doesn’t she let me go too?”

There were many reasons for that. Most of them Blake wouldn’t dare speak of. She settled on the obvious. “It’s not safe, and you don’t know how to protect yourself.”

“That’s it? That’s the only reason?” ilia asked with a huff. “Yang said I’m getting good.”

“You're not good enough to take on proper missions. You don’t understand the magnitude of Grimm that are out there, or what they can be capable of.” Blake told her, clinging to that one clear truth. Ilia was no huntress, even if she thought she could pretend to be one. She had years of learning ahead, and they couldn't be rushed. “They’re not all like the Ursa and Beowolves in the forests. For example, water Grimm have the advantage almost every single time.”

“Even on dry land?”

“If they can walk on it, then yes. Even upon dry land they are a great threat."

"But there are ones who can't, right?"

"Be careful not to overlook the other dangers. If they bring destruction and sadness other Grimm will come. That alone makes them deadly.” Blake bit her lower lip, forcing a small laugh because she didn’t want Ilia worrying over nothing. “Don't worry, Yang's stronger than she likes to show, and she isn't alone. They’re after a big Grimm that looks a little bit like a turtle this time.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, it looks just like one. They don’t have any teeth, but a beak like turtles have. They’re all black with white bony shells. They have red eyed like all the other Grimm you’ve seen. It’s tough to go up against something like that. You’d need a lot of skilled hunters, or a few very powerful ones.”

“If those kind are so tough to fight, why didn’t you go with them?” Ilia asked, tucking herself further into Blake’s side as the cat Faunus rubbed her back soothingly. "You're strong too."

“If I went, we’d have to take you too. Besides, it’s all about skillset. Sun’s pretty much useless against that kind of Grimm. Only thing he can do is keep it distracted. Winter can act as a support, and she has her summons to help out. In the end though, Yang’s probably the only one that could crack its shell with brute force. If I went, I’d just be acting as another decoy like Sun…”

“I’m going to get better at fighting, I swear I will. You just have to train me, like your dad trained you. I want to fight as well as you do.”

“In a few more years, maybe I'll teach you…” Blake said, and even that she wasn’t sure about. In her opinion, they were training the girl. They were just being slow about it. Deep down, Blake believed they all wanted better for the girl. A life that could give her something more.

“But I can do it now!” Ilia complained, skin shifting red as she insisted. “It’s just that no one lets me prove it.”

“That’s because being a huntress is a very dangerous way to live.” Blake said, guiding Ilia’s head back to her chest and sighing. She was a handful, blusterous on occasion. “You need to take your time, and you need to learn slowly. Now go to sleep. Yang might not be here right now, but I am. If you ever want training from me, you need to learn how to be well rested no matter how hard it is to sleep.”

* * *

Forest Grimm were usually no match for Yang, but she was tired. Completing difficult missions were exhausting, and that made even the weakest of Grimm a larger threat than normal. The sickening squelch of another dead creature made Yang wince. The now dead Ursa was no longer attempting to maul her, but the satisfaction of a job well done didn’t wash over her.

Instead, as she yanked her hand out of its innards she couldn’t help but feel her own lips twisting in disgust. It was a feeling that never really changed. She never completely got used to it. Even as she watched the beast turn to ash, she felt her stomach clench uncomfortably. There was no time to linger over the matter. The roar of its companion drew Yang’s attention, the large bear Grimm drooling as though it had found its next meal.

Yang prepared for a rush, but Winter already had the creature in her sights. In a blinding flash of tactical precision and Winter sped forward, her swords glinting dangerously in the afternoon sun as she sliced its head clean off.

“What foul creatures.” The older woman noted stoically.

“Yeah, no kidding.” Yang said, watching the last of the blood dissipate from her fingertips. It was nearly a magic spectacle. No one would ever know she had just gone head to head with a Grimm, every bit of evidence leaving her. “Not that the stupid thing had a chance to begin with.”

“I saw no reason to delay the inevitable.” Winter replied coolly as she glanced over to her companion. Yang seemed tired, but she was safe for now. “The Grimm are in greater numbers than I have come to expect.”

“It’s probably because when we flushed Salem out of the area she released the new ones she made.” Yang said with a shrug. “I wonder how fast she can really do it. I mean, is it like a few a day? Or way more than that?”

Winter had no idea, it was a wholly unpleasant thought. “Caution serves us well, I’d think. We should presume she can create the Grimm in waves if she so chose.”

“You really think she can make that many at once?”

“I wouldn’t underestimate her.” Winter replied, slashing her sword absently in the direction of the wind. As she sliced the air, the Grimm’s blood dropped from blade and dissipated before it even reached the ground. “Where is Sun?”

“Probably still dealing with the others.” Yang shrugged heading in the direction he had gone towards. “I thought he might be done by now, but we should catch up with him just to make sure.”

Winter sighed, biting back a snide remark as she followed after Yang. They didn’t need to move far before they caught the first sounds of the rumbling growls and Sun’s renewed gunshots. Making haste the two of them found Sun moments later. This group was larger than the last one. Winter scowled, charging in headlong to face down the collection of Ursa that Sun was in the midst of dispatching. She was the first to make contact with the awful bunch, slicing into the fray to remove limbs and shatter bone. Her cuts were decisive, swift, and without remorse. Yang flanked Sun on the other side of him, dodging his rounds of bullets and firing several of her own.

Yang grinned as the ferocity of the battle as it kicked into gear. She had been trained to face Grimm of all kinds, raised as a child under her father’s expertise. Her days spent at Raven’s side had only given Yang the ruthless tenacity to take her thrill of combat to the next level. She bolted into the group, more Ursa in her sights. Gearing for a powerful hit to the creature’s jaw, she ducked out of the way of its massive claws. She landed the hit, but it was too late to get out of the way of the next swipe.

The Ursa howled in pain filled rage, and Yang winced as she felt the sharp sing of its claws against her thigh. Warm blood oozing from the gashes, she stood her ground. “Son of a bitch!” She screamed, her fists swinging wildly until it the sordid creature was bloodied to little more than a pulp. She reeled on another, this one so small she sent it flying into a nearby tree. Her cocky victorious grin coming a moment too soon.

“Yang!” Winter Jumped in front of her, taking the last Grimm head on with the same deadly accuracy she prided herself to use. Still, she had narrowly gotten there in time. A breath longer, and Yang would have been caught between its teeth. Eviscerating it felt empty when faced with such a terrible possibility. “You’re injured.”

“I’m fine. The gash is already healing.” Yang said, feeling the wounds knitting back together, the blood dripping from her leg looking far worse than it really was.

“That was sloppy, even for you.” Winter said, upturning her nose. Concern easily masked by outward disappointment. “One day that zest for life you have will be your undoing.”

“It’s just a scratch.” Yang said, shrugging softly. It came with her combat style. She expected a few bumps and bruises along the way.

“Once day those selfsame actions could be fatal.” Winter bit out, strutting away before Yang could examine her expression any further. She didn’t want display any hint to her worries, no matter how rational they might be. Understandable under the circumstances, or not.

“Looks like it got you good, Yang.” Sun said, both a little bit breathless and concerned. “You sure you don’t need to rest up?”

“Nah, I’m good. Besides, home is just two days away.” Yang told him. “I kind of want to get back there before Blake and Ilia do. The poor kid will just worry otherwise.”

* * *

Deep within the finery of the fortress, Weiss stared into the fire that warmed the room. She had many things to think about, and so few of them were comforting. She would be stewing in her mental confinement all night if this persisted. Ruby was none the wiser to any of it. The girl happily curled up in a partnering armchair, dead to the world. Weiss could only be compelled to wonder what went through Ruby’s head on a daily basis. Her dream likely a collection of her youthful exuberance and insanity.

A small giggle slipped from Ruby's lips as she rolled over.

Weiss raised an eyebrow, reaching for the nearby goblet filled with wine. She sipped it as she considered the girl. Likely, if Weiss had to hazard a guess, it was nothing prim and proper. Ruby was probably dreaming up new ways to torment Jaune, send the fortress into a fit of ciaos, and make trouble for anyone in her path. There were few things that amused Ruby more than getting into places she didn’t belong. She was a curious child, easily bored by the stringent upbringing expected of her.

A firm knock pulled her attention from the gentle ponderings. “Enter.”

The door creaked open slowly as whisper soft footsteps came in, only to close the door behind them a moment later. Weiss turned her attention to the intruder, feeling a small sense of comfort at the sight of one of her most trusted few. “James, how good of you to finally arrive.”

“You’ll forgive me, I hope.” He said, standing before her. He was garbed in the typical uniform expected of her prized military, not a single bit of imperfection to be found in his attire. His metals gleamed, sword at his side perfectly upon him. His gun was concealed, a weapon of deadly accuracy. One of the few within the fortress to utilize gunpowder and bullets. It was a fairly new way of combat, little understood by the masses. “I would have come sooner, but there were matters to oversee.”

“I had been starting to wonder about that. You’re usually punctual when called upon.” Weiss nodded to him, realizing that his lateness would be due to no small matter. “Have you discovered anything new to report?”

“Unfortunately not, my lady.” He said, having respect enough to bow his head at such unpleasant information. “Salem’s whereabouts had truly eluded us. I have made the proper inquiries, but I regret to say none of them were fruitful.”

“I see.” Weiss said, mentally cursing her luck. “What of our little debacle to the south? That has been handled to perfection, I’d presume.”

“As you’d come to expect.” James replied, raising his head to regard her once more. “The agreements were quite simple, really."

“Take a seat.” She said, gesturing to indicate where she would like him to rest. “I want to hear everything.”

“There is not much to speak of.” He said, though he took her offer anyway, sitting down and sighing as it felt good to be off his weary feet. “Meeting with our comrades to the south, I spoke to them at length regarding the Faunus army that has been harassing our boarders. They are Vale's Faunus having a minor scuffle with a few of our villages. I was assured most graciously that the problem will be handled. I’ve recalled my men. The coin was no small amount, but we’ve washed our hands of the situation.”

“Fine work.”

“I thought you would be pleased.”

“Fairly so.”

“Enough to grant me a bit of respite?”

Weiss paused at this. “Whatever for?”

“To enjoy Penny’s arrival to the fortress.” James replied hopefully. His gaze cut to Ruby, a soft smile upon his face. He reached out to push some of her messy hair from her eyes. “It will be delightful to see her again.”

“Ah, yes you’re newest protégé.” Weiss nodded softly, as she watched one of the most ruthless men in all of Atlas as he doted upon Ruby. "I was expecting to hear you bring the matter up sooner."

"I couldn't find the time." He said, a faint glimmer in his eyes. He recalled when Penny was so young, so easily comforted by a few fingers through her hair and the soft hum of his voice.

Weiss took his actions with little more than relaxed observation. She knew James well, understood his intent. He had a soft spot for Ruby particularly, but his fearsome demeanor rarely extended to the children that took shelter within fortress walls. He was firm with children, but far from cold or cruel. Many of her own methods of dealing with Ruby came from his expertise, a fact she was thankful for. The boys growing into men dreamed of becoming like him, and the young women tittered on whenever they glimpsed the powerful general in the training yard schooling his recruits.

"I will take it that the time is now, then." Weiss said cautiously. The subject of Penny was a tender one for James, something not to be trampled nor disregarded. Weiss proceeded with due respect, because even she would be remiss to expect him to toss Penny into danger. "I hear that she's become a fine candidate for placement within the fortress. It is a station of consequence that she stand with you, I'd think you'd have pride in that."

“Perhaps, but that wouldn't be the reason to be proud of her. She is my niece foremost.” James murmured with a small hum in his tone.

“So you are still deciding? I had heard that she had taken an interest in joining our fine military, but I was sure was you’d decline.” Weiss said then, understanding his intentions. He was lonely, she assumed. He had only found a reason to continue his service in the eyes of those who looked to him with hope and admiration. It was respect well earned, but he cared very little for the praise when it came from his peers. “You never indicated that you took her whims seriously.”

“What else am I to do when she comes up with such nonsense? Penny has always looked to the uniform in awe, and I must admit she’s far from inept. She takes her training more seriously than most I’ve seen. She has far more to learn before I’ll allow her outside of the fortress walls to join any real battle."

"However, you've thought to perhaps allow it." Weiss said. "It speaks the outcome, I'd think."

"It's not that I'm happy about that. However, it is time I match her honest attempt with my own.” James replied then. “I’ll be training her personally, with your blessing of course.”

Weiss thought of this, perhaps this was a solution for one of her problems. “Consider the request granted. Tell me, how experienced is she with the lands?”

“She is no stranger to them, my lady. Living with her father for so long, she’s already earned herself ample experience. Perhaps too much of it.” James grumbled, his attention still on Ruby as he regarded the young silver eyed child. One day, she would be trained for war against the Grimm. “Penny has been known not to idle when battle with Grimm looms close at hand. She still has a lot to learn though.”

“She is skilled then, able in her abilities?”

“More than most young women her age.”

“My compliments to your fine influence. You must be very pleased to have such an accomplished niece wishing to follow your footsteps.”

“I wish I were more so.” James said honestly. “It would have pleased me more to hear of her settling into the safety of the fortress. I was hoping she'd think to join the ladies of the court proper. I wanted her to come without the motive to uptake the uniform. She is a very gentle person, and I would have liked to see her married and with children of her own.”

“She is young yet.” Weiss told him. “There will be time for that, she is barely eighteen. We can’t all fall weak in the knees the moment we gain the honest intentions of a suitor.”

James would have liked if Penny did follow a more traditional way of life. That his niece didn’t have such a knack for fighting. Few women did, fewer still stood to his personal standard of greatness. The training was no simple matter, that he had conceded to Penny’s whims at all was proof enough of her skill. The general would take almost any willing man under his tutelage, regardless of skill or ability. It was a man’s birthright to die on the battlefield, his right passed down to him simply being born as a man. James had always felt the decision honorable.

When it came to women, he feared for them. Suffered their losses in battle to incredible length. It was a shame for a woman to die defending the lands. Every time it happened he was saddened that more would be cast out to do battle, at risk never to return. It weighed on him, because war was no soft thing. Not gentle, not kind, not the way a woman should be treated.

He had no need to speak of that, Weiss knew his mind. Instead he pushed aside the lump in his throat. He could worry himself over Penny later. Concern himself with her training when the time came to oversee it. He changed the subject. “Have you given any more thought to the replacement of your personal bodyguard?”

Weiss frowned at that question. She had been pushing that matter aside for far too long. Caroline Cordovin had been her personal bodyguard ever since she could remember. James had known the woman since his days as a recruit. As a lad, she had taken him under her wing, trained him personally, and saw him rise the ranks. Those in the fortress had thought her to be invincible, but her grisly demise at the hands of Salem had proven otherwise.

Weiss had not only lost a very dear friend, she had lost her childhood caretaker, her mentor. Cordovin died an unmarried, childless woman. Dreams of those distant things expunged by what she felt was a greater duty. Weiss would never admit to suffering such a loss. Grief was too painful to bear. Outrage became useful. Weiss clung to her anger, a feeling she understood like a second skin. Why think of a replacement, when her absence spoke greater volumes?

“No, I haven’t.” Weiss said stiffly. The idea of replacing her was a painful subject. It cut as deeply into James as it did to her. Why then, was he so interested in continually broaching the subject? Was it merely because his mind lingered on the defenses of the kingdom? Was it that the other nobles continually put him up to it? Was it merely his own worries, that without a bodyguard she would be slain? “This is not the first time you’ve touched upon this subject. Do you have any willing recommendations?”

“Perhaps one or two.” James said, gritting his teeth as he realized she wanted names. He was loath to give them. Moving forward with their lives meant replacing the woman so dear to them. It seemed so incredibly wrong. “You’d be amazed at how many have shown an interest in the position. They've come to me asking, even without the invitation to speak about it. It seems my men believe I have the ability to sway you in the matter.”

“Is that assumption truly incorrect?”

“My lady, please.” James begged of her.

“They believe you could easily influence my decision, is that right?” Weiss asked, perhaps pouring salt in the old wounds as she watched the man in front of her nod. “Well, don’t you? We’ve known each other for too long, and you knew Caroline’s place and duties better than anyone else besides myself. Wouldn’t you know the best of your men to recommend?”

“You say that like it can be done so easily.” James murmured as he placed an elbow to his knee and a hand to his face.

That was a tad too cruel, Weiss decided, forcing him to determine such a delicate matter. It wasn’t his place and below his station. It would have been easier if he had simply presented a willing candidate. She would have trusted his decision without fail. The Ironwood line was just as storied as that of a Schnee, just as honorable a name to keep. They were related vaguely by blood through that complex history. An aunt of hers had married into the Ironwood line nearly a hundred years ago. Long before her time. If the texts weren’t so well kept, Weiss might not have ever known.

They honored that bond through the generations. Her own brother had recently found his suitor among the Ironwoods, living even further northbound among the mountains. With such strong unity among them, she knew that James would not have betrayed her in choosing the perfect bodyguard.

Perfection was the key.

Perhaps not in display, or even in temper. Caroline was neither of those things, had never been. She was pigheaded at times, blinded by the deep sense of pride that ran through her. She rarely displayed well at royal affairs, and her diminutive stature made those of even the highest noble rank to bend the knee simply to speak at face level. She was older in age before she died in battle. Getting on in her years, which had made her very unwilling to hear the nonsense of youth.

Yet, as a bodyguard she had been perfect because she was not the yielding sort. No one would come close to her, no one would dare try to fill that shadow.

“It cannot be done easily, James. That is the entire point. General Cordovin’s replacement is a complicated issue, and one that merits discussion.” Weiss said, the nearest she would come to an apology. “I would never entrust myself to just anyone, not when Ruby’s safety also rests a paramount concern. No one with any mind at all would think it wise to rush to a decision. We should deliberate the matter at length.”

“Yet the decision should fall onto you.” James murmured.

“If you had to give a name, any at all, who would it be?”

“Just one, my lady?”

“If you could be so exact.”

James sighed again at length. “Then it would have to be Lady Nikos. She is of noble birth, of refined skill, and most importantly she is yielding enough to tend to children.” James said as he looked to Ruby once more. It was perhaps Caroline’s greatest failing that Ruby had been terrified of her. That one of the charges she was sworn to protect cowered in fear of her. Then again, the girl took a liking to so few, and those she did seemed not to have a rhyme or reason. “There is no doubt Lady Nikos would make the finest attendant for future generations. You will find her to be easy on the eyes as well, suitable for the royal proceedings you so often attend.”

“So be it.” Weiss told him. “I will consider her placement, expect a response from me within the week.”

“Yes, my lady.” He said, feeling even that was too soon. His attention turned back to Ruby. He doubted she had taken to him because of his own merits. Far from it, if he were honest with himself. She had come to enjoy his company simply because of Penny. Grew to like him by extension of his niece, who made frequent visits over the years. Still, the chair was no place for her to get the rest she needed. “As for Ruby, would you like me to take her to her room?”

“That would be acceptable.” She said, watching as he got up and gently collected the girl. Ruby curling into his side. Watching James take his leave, her gaze returned to the fire once more.


	4. Dilectio Chapter 4

** Dilectio  
Chapter 4 **

The life of a bandit was as capricious as it was obvious. They were not mindless thieves or simple murderers. Certainly they could be enticed to such ruthless behavior, and had no qualms taking what they felt they deserved. However, demands of fair payments and strong bargaining skills were among many tiny details that distinguished strong bandit tribes from the weak ones. Surely they could pilfer and plunder everything in sight, but doing that had limits. If they were too greedy, they risked meeting their own untimely end.

Therefore there were a few rudimentary logics Raven held above all else.

Destruction of a village was to be used as grievous a punishment only. If they drove nearby villagers away in fear, they would be forced to become nomadic. Stealing was permitted only when the stolen goods were absolute necessity for the survival of the tribe. It was not the way to gain luxuries, valuable coin, or slaves. That could only be done through trade and payment. Murder could not be done unprovoked. Mindless slaughter was meant for monsters, not bandits. Undue kindness to outsiders was strictly forbidden. Loyalty and repayments were expected whenever a bandit of the tribe offered their aid to an outsider.

With these ideals in mind, a symbiotic relationship between nearby villages and bandits could form. It wasn’t a peaceful relationship by far, but such laws had proven effective to strengthen the tribe. Without the need to wander aimlessly in search of the next village they came across, proper settlements and fortifications could be built. Trading routes could be firmly controlled by Raven’s fold, and the villagers were promised their lives for capitulating.

Stealing itself became easier when she could simply waltz into a village and make demands for supplies without having to battle anyone. Mercenary work was plentiful. They willingly went to war with other encroaching bandit tribes, the only ones able to match such ferocity without the aid of the Schnee’s. That was absolutely beneficial for both parties. The royal armies need not be deployed in this area for such trivial matters, and entire villages were not brutally slaughtered the moment their backs were turned.

“Raven, they’re back and making camp out front.”

Raven didn’t trifle much in Yang’s affairs. Her daughter was plenty old enough to do as she wanted. She wished the girl would assimilate into the tribe, but that argument had happened so many times it was a lost cause. “Leave them to it, Vernal.” Raven said, looking over maps of the region. “I assume Winter has returned?”

“She’s entered the camp. I think she's on her way as we speak.” Vernal nodded. “Though, I should probably warn you, it seems like she’s in a bad mood.”

Raven had expected that. “Hell of a surprise that is. You can send her in.”

“Will do.” Vernal said, slipping behind the tent flap.

Raven could hear unhappy voices, but she paid little mind. Instead, she downed her drink and penned a new area down on the map. Then she poured another into that wooden cup, slamming it down on the table as she planned out the next big score for fine goods. Winter came in a few moments later. Raven didn’t bother to look up at her. “Oh, so you do know where you belong.”

Winter scowled unflinchingly. Most in the bandit tribe knew better than to provoke Raven. Doing that usually resulted in a fight, and Raven never lost. “If that was your attempt at a joke, it was misplaced.”

Raven could only bark a laugh at that. In truth, she quite liked Winter. Most bandits were the rowdy sort, looking to make trouble simply for their own gains. By nature they were outlaws, attracted to danger and countless vices. Winter wasn’t such a person. She was just as careful and calculating as Raven herself. The two of them shared intellect and a few hobbies, bonding over them. Still Raven was the leader, and Winter knew better than to step too far out of line. “I was starting to worry that you had forgotten what the word loyalty means.”

“I was with Yang.” Winter replied unflinchingly.

“So I noticed.” Raven told her. “Sit, we need to talk.”

“I’ll stand.” Winter said, unwilling to buckle in this instance. She was loyal to Raven, but her blue-blooded heritage ran deep. She might have cast the need for titles aside, but she had never allowed herself to bend mindlessly to Raven’s whims. She wouldn’t begin to do so now. “What do you want?”

It was then Raven regarded Winter. Most would think her twisting expression to be that of anger, and in most cases they would be correct. Rage came easily to her in the face of defiance, but the woman knew Winter well. She didn’t act in defiance of Raven’s laws without reason or cause. It wasn’t narrow-minded idiocy that was to blame. It never was, and it would be firmly in the realm of stupidity to assume that had changed now. Idly, she returned to her maps. “Everything has a price. We don’t kill Grimm for charity, Winter.”

“Tell that to Yang.”

“I’ve tried, it never works. That hardheaded idiot has no common sense on a good day.” Raven said, looking up and meeting Winter head on. Crossing her arms, she regarded her subordinate with clear annoyance. “She’s not one of us, and I have no control over what rules of mine she tends to break. You on the other hand… I’d suggest you watch your ass.”

“Yang asked me to go with her, I chose to do so. She would have gone without me, and I found that unsatisfactory.” Winter replied coolly. “You can read into that however you’d like. Saying that I was in any way charitable would be daft.”

“Where’s the cash?”

“Yang didn’t take a payment.”

“Were you involved in the mission?”

“Yes.”

“That’s charity!” Raven spat. “We don’t do charity, Winter. We’re for hire only. If they don’t pay us willingly, we take what we’re owed.”

“Would you rather I charge Yang next time? She doesn’t expect payment for an extermination most of the time. Should I take my payment from what little she has?” Winter asked curiously before shaking her head. “Sometimes gains are to be measured strictly in avoiding undesirable outcomes, and I stand by that wholeheartedly.”

Raven sucked in a breath and released it out of her nose. There was merit in looking after one's own, she was right about that. Still, she didn't like the implication. It was messy, and made Winter's loyalty to the bandit tribe questionable. “Are you fucking her?”

“Excuse me?”

“Are you fucking my daughter?”

“Not at this time.” Winter said with an unflappable honesty. “Although I don’t see what business that is of yours. She’s an adult. She can do as she pleases, with whomever she pleases.”

“In that we both agree, Yang can do whatever the hell she wants to do.” Raven groused out. There was no reason to keep Yang under her thumb, but Winter was an entirely different matter. “You can’t. She’s not one of us, and you have no business being with her."

"Tell that to Yang, see how far that gets you."

"You're the one I'm pissed with, not Yang." Raven said shrugging her shoulders and running a hand through her long black hair. "I've had my fair share of relationships outside of the tribe myself. It's fine on the surface, but you have to draw a line. I’d turn the other cheek if I thought being with you would get her to join. Yang has no interest in that. We both know it’ll never happen. She may be my daughter, but she’ll never be one of us.”

“So be it.” Winter said. “I haven’t laid a single hand on her. I don’t plan to, but if it happens there’s really nothing you can do about it.”

“I could beat the absolute shit out of you. There’s a thought.” Raven said, lifting her drink to her lips. “I have more where that came from. Want to test that?”

Winter just raised an eyebrow, taking the drink from Raven’s hands and having a large gulp as she leaned heavily against the table. “I think you underestimate what passes for virtue. Just because she isn’t willing to capitulate to your commands doesn’t suddenly make her altruistic. She’s just as easily pissed off as you are, and twice as volatile when she is. There’s more of you in her than you want to admit. You’re right when you say that she’ll probably never be a bandit, but she’s nothing like Taiyang.”

Raven yanked her drink back, downing what little of it Winter hadn’t taken. “Let me be blunt. I don’t care what you and Yang get up to. Take her to bed for all I care, but you had better remember that you answer to me, not Yang. If you cause a conflict of interest like this again, will kick your ass up one side of this camp and down the other. You got me?”

“Yes, you’ve made your point.”

“Then get to work.” Raven grabbed a rolled up map and slapped it on the table. “You’re leading the next patrol.”

* * *

Weiss didn't like the gritty taste in her mouth. The unpleasantness laying itself in front of her. Plenty of it, with seemingly no end. Weeks had passed, and there was no sign of Salem. No reports coming in under the dead of night, and none of her own slipping out to trusted allies, either. It was reasonable then, that the peace was the unsettling sort. She needed to plan her next excursion into the forest. That would wait until dawn, but until then she needed to collect her thoughts.

Weiss sighed at the small pleasure of being without some sort of insanity plaguing her. It happened so rarely these days, simple joys were often unable to be taken. Yet, this too was fleeting, and it would only be a matter of time until Ruby woke up to go rampaging through the fortress. She was excitable that way, the mere smell of sweets enough to upend anything in her path. She never should have unlocked the girl’s aura so young. Should have never allowed her to discover her semblance without having the firm discipline to use it accordingly.

She yawned softly at her own exhaustion. Ruby was tiring on the best of days. There was nothing to be done about that now. What was done, was done. There was no taking it back.

Instead, she enjoyed her perch. This was a place she found favorable. Although she had to admit that even this was not perfect. She tucked her fur cloak around her. It was unseasonably cold for the time of year. Snow already drifting on the highest mountains that overlooked a vast landscape. They were so small compared to the ones further to the north, outside of her reaches. These were Schnee lands, her family’s own hard won territory. Now, it was on her shoulders. It filled her with immense pride.

Sadly, that pride didn’t ease the cumbersome burden that lording over such large lands provided.

She could see the villages in the territory from a distance. View the gentle gathering of smoke from warm fires, and take notice of the serenity the dense forests. So long as Salem kept well away, things remained relatively peaceful under her control. The Grimm were an annoyance, surely, but even they were simple to dispatch if she needed to do so. If she would ever need proof of here effectiveness as a ruler, this was the image she trusted most.

The landscape changed with the seasons. During this time of year, the lowlands were painted in seas of greenery. The deep waters along the coasts were perfectly blue. Splashes of color from the meadows proving that flowers were in full bloom, and that the wilderness maintained good health. That was no small matter, after all. A healthy landscape promised a prosperous year for the people. Commerce would line the pockets of those intelligent enough to make use of it. Stores of food could be harvested that lasted long into the snowy months of impending chill. Importantly, the happier the people under her rule, the less Grimm that were likely to attack.

“I thought I might find you here…”

Weiss didn’t bother to turn and greet her companion. “There had better be a good reason for disrupting my personal time.”

“I was not aware that you had such a luxury.”

“I often don’t, hence why I prize it so greatly.” Weiss said, ignoring the woman’s humor. “What brings you here at such an unreasonable hour, Pyrrha?”

“Dynastic matters, of course.”

“Of course. You wonder why I spend as much time as I can away from the fortress. That would be the reason.” Weiss said with a roll of her eyes as she turned to face her new loyal bodyguard. Mentally, Weiss had to remind herself that it wasn’t that she needed one, but that tradition was not to be ignored. Caroline would have expected her position to be filled.

“Is it truly so unexpected?” Pyrrha asked quietly.

Weiss supposed it wasn’t, but her concerns tended to rest with other matters. She could only wonder at the motivations of those who wished to see the next in the Schnee line. Dynastic matters were no small affair, and Weiss could feel a distinct danger hidden in the depths of it all. “Why is it that so many are so concerned about the preposterousness courtship at a time like this?”

“I believe it is because we are among troubling times. I’d think that could be why they worry so much.” Pyrrha said slowly. “Furthermore, your attire has changed recently.”

“I don’t see why that would be such a slight to my dignity.” Weiss huffed. “I dabble in swordplay, much like the rest of them.”

“Yet you have always preferred far more elegant clothing.” Pyrrha told her plainly. “You should hear the way the guards speculate because of it.”

Weiss looked down at herself. Her usual formal dresses and finest silks replaced with a tunic and breeches. She could hardly blame them for wondering. The bulge was not prominent when flaccid, but it was unlike her to use the relic’s power this way. Then again, few women in the Schnee family line were prone to homosexuality, only a small handful according to the records. She was proud to be a woman, happy to be so. Yet, she had firmly deiced she would not weaken herself merely to carry a child. Therefore, the only way to offer her own seed was to have a man’s appendage. To use the relic passed down within the family to bastardize her form into something other than she was used to.

It was wholly unsettling, but she knew she would not need to stay this way for long. She could use the relic at whim, return to the body she preferred whenever she pleased. Switching her form constantly, she was becoming more accustomed to it, more comfortable with its implication. Saying that plainly was not something she was inclined to do.

Instead she regarded Pyrrha with a knowing scowl. “Allow them to have their conjecture. Silencing it does little good.”

“As you wish.” Pyrrha replied softly.

“It isn’t that I wish it.” Weiss murmured, the tiniest hint of annoyance slipping into her tone. “Women’s clothing isn’t particularly suitable at every moment under the current circumstances. They will need to get used to seeing me in alternative forms of attire.”

“You used the relic, then.” The woman replied slowly in understanding. Wondering just how to navigate the conversation.

“I toy with the bauble from time to time. It has many uses, and it would be a waste if I didn’t understand its magnitude.” Weiss said, seeing no reason to hide the fact. “As is the way of it, I thought I might get used to its power. Under this circumstance, that has yet to happen.”

“If you would accept the company of a man, you wouldn’t have to get used to it.” Pyrrha said, knowingly touching upon that sore subject.

“I will do no such thing.” Weiss said sternly. “I have no interested in them, and I never will. Furthermore, I’d be unable to do battle with a child in me. I have already decided I shall have a wife. She will bear me a child. The relic is therefore my ultimatum. However, I am not yet ready to speak with my advisors on the matter. Until I find that I am, they shall be doomed to wait.”

“Is there no swaying you to consider the matter with a bit more haste?”

“Leave me.” Weiss ordered calmly. “Tend to your newfound duties.”

Pyrrha bowed slightly, not wishing to leave but respecting the order.

Weiss couldn’t help but linger on Pyrrha’s words. She saw the value in them. She wasn’t getting any younger. If she continued to wait until she was passed her prime it would be too little, too late. Since the day she turned twenty-five with no respectable suitor on her arm, subtle clues had been placed before her. She was expected to produce an heir, someone to carry the Schnee line and maintain a grasp of the lands if anything should happen to her. With the monstrosity known as Salem threatening her home and her people, this made the issues far more important to the advisors.

What was once gentle hedging had turned to something far more poignant and difficult to ignore. It was infuriating, but much of her existence was the same.

* * *

Blake fell to her knees, tired and gasping for air. The falling Grimm besides her turning the air a dark haze as it began to dissipate. The wayward Nevermore flock had been flying over the region for a while, occasional sightings causing nearby villages to panic. With dirt caking upon her sweat and clinging there, Blake had no desire to do anything more than toss herself into the nearest pool of clean water. She braced a hand on a shaky knee, breathing forcefully out of her nose.

“I thought cats were supposed to hunt birds.” Sun laughed cheerily, shaking himself free of the vines and leaves he’d gotten tangled in. “Some apex predator you are, huh?”

“Some cats also eat monkeys.” Blake bit out as she looked up at him, golden eyes lacking the same humor. “Besides, if it were only the flock it would have been one thing. I never imagined we’d run into a sleeping King Taijitu. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. Twin headed snakes are the absolute worst.”

Sun’s humor didn’t die, only gentled as he held his staff placidly. “Fair point.”

“Please tell me that was the last of the flock.”

“I think we’ve cleared the area.” Sun replied then, gazing around as though to assure himself of that detail. “I’d say it was a job well done.”

“You’d think wrong.” Winter called out, leaping down from a series of glyphs. Deftly jumping from one to another. Yang barely able to keep pace on the quickly disappearing platforms. “Several of the larger ones have escaped.”

“Winter, slow up!” Yang begged. “These things are slippery.”

Winter was too annoyed to slow her pace. She hated airborne fighting, and this battle had not been in her plans. The oldest among them landed on the ground in perfect form, Yang quick to stumble down soon after. With a sigh, she placed her swords back in its sheath. “What an idiotic mission.” She said venomously as she turned to Yang. “Why is it that you seem to find trouble wherever you go?”

“Just lucky I guess?”

Winter shook her head. “I have more important things to be doing. I refuse to continue tracking average forest Grimm. Certainly, you should have better things to do as well.”

“Well, you’d probably think that, but not really.”

“I suppose this work is also unpaid?”

“We’ll probably get a little something, but I’m not going to ask for it. Some people are too poor to pay, and you know what? That’s mom’s fault.” Yang said. It drove her crazy, but she couldn’t stop Raven. “Her prices are way too high, and I’ve seen what she does to people who can’t pay her fees.”

“You’re taking away her business, and she is not pleased.” Winter retorted. “The plight of the villages are not your problem.”

Blake sighed, it was understandable that Winter was in a foul mood. Raven’s patrol details were gruesome work. Yang certainly hadn’t made things easier on the white haired woman. The blonde was too rebellious to understand Winter’s point, though.

“We’re hunters.” Yang shrugged, as though that was the only reason she ever needed. “We make it our concern, and because of that it is our problem. You don’t need to stick around if it’ll get you in trouble. We can manage a few pissed off birds on our own.”

That wasn’t the point, but Winter knew a losing battle when she saw one. “Idiots.”

“I can help too.” Ilia said, looking up at Yang hopefully. “Can’t I? They’re just Nevermore, and I set the bombs in all of the empty nests just like you told me to. That was good, right?”

“Yeah, kiddo, it was a great job.” Yang just smiled then, kneeling down to regard her. “There’s just one little problem. The deeper we go, the bigger they’re going to get. I need you to stay here and help Blake.”

“But did you see her and Sun?” Ilia said, pointing to the two of them. “They just took down the biggest King Taijitu I’ve ever seen.”

“And that one was just a baby.” Yang nodded, clapping the girl on the shoulder. In truth she was more than a little worried about Ilia following her deeper into the woods. The most the girl had taken out were a few juvenile Grimm. Small Ursa and Beowolves under the watchful eyes of the adults. Her growing sense of duty was admirable, as was the never-ending enthusiasm to become a huntress. Still, she wasn’t properly trained, and one wrong move would be deadly. Yang couldn’t risk it, no matter how sure of herself that Ilia was. “King Taijitu can get so big that they can be taller than the trees. You don’t want to mess with something that big.”

“But Yang-”

“Ilia, I’ll go with Yang.” Sun told her, cutting off the girl's retort. “I promise, I’ll go with Yang and make sure she stays safe. You can help Blake collect and boil down all of the Taijitu spit so that the villages can make anti-venom.”

Ilia wasn’t happy, turning to Blake to see if someone was on her side. Alas, the cat Faunus had the same demeanor as the others. Ilia could read it plainly on her face. No, she wasn’t going deeper into the forests.

“Consider it part of your training too.” Blake told her, trying to appeal to her ambition. “A huntress needs to know how to treat the wounded and make medicine. The first part of doing that is collecting what they leave behind. It’s just as important a killing Grimm.”

"But I want to fight." Ilia looked up at Winter, her last hope. “You think I can do it, can’t you?”

That hopeful gaze was completely unsettling, and she brushed the matter away. “I don’t have time for this. I have a patrol to finish.” Winter bit out, summing another series a glyphs and jumping away with newfound agitation. “Don’t get killed, Yang.”

“Stupid old bandit…” Ilia grumbled, kicking the dirt with her foot.

* * *

Weiss sighed at length as Ruby ran circles around her in the depths of the woods. The girl was impossibly enamored with every tiny bug, plant, and tree she happened to see. A single white Ursa carried food and supplies for a few days away from the fortress. Leaving Jaune behind at the fortress, it was time to put Pyrrha to the test. In the back of her mind, Weiss firmly reminded herself that guarding Ruby would be no small task.

“What’s this?” Ruby said, landing on her keeper’s back excitedly, holding another green bug in her hand.

“A praying mantis.” Weiss said coolly, flicking it from Ruby’s palm before it could harm her.

“Oh…” Ruby said rushing off again, oblivious to the way that Weiss was slowly losing temperance with the never-ending barrage of questions.

“She seems incredibly taken with you, my lady.” Pyrrha said with no small amount of humor. Though she knew of this fact long before being named as the new Schnee bodyguard, she had rarely seen Ruby outside of royal gatherings where children might be permitted. Such events were so few and far between that it was easy to forget that Ruby existed at all. She suspected that was exactly the way Weiss wanted it.

“Perhaps.” Weiss allowed, although in truth she had little interest in the subject. Even if Ruby would have grown to hate her, it changed nothing of the promise she swore to keep. While Weiss liked to think that most people within her fortress were incredibly loyal, there were dangers lurking around every turn. For that simple reason alone, Ruby was not permitted to play with the other children her own age. Noble little ones were schooled strictly and stringently at an early age. They knew to be cautious and suspicious of everyone, therefore they could be particularly headstrong and quite vicious in their own youthful ways. Ruby was none of those things, and couldn’t navigate the complex fineries of royal youths. “I believe it is more apt to say that she is lonely.”

“She doesn’t seem so.” Pyrrha said placidly, a mere observation falling elegantly from her lips. “In fact, it would be more apt to say she seemed most distraught when she isn’t at your side.”

“So I have been informed.” Weiss agreed, speaking more to the bodyguard than she otherwise would. She had started to enjoy Pyrrha’s company, not in the least because the Nikos family line were of prestigious background. They were not nearly as storied as the Schnee or Ironwood families, but Weiss had long suspected that would only be a matter of time. “You will come to find that she is quite the little barbarian."

"I'd politely beg to differ, my lady." Pyrrha said, doing her utmost to respectfully mark her disagreement. "I have not spent great length with her, but she is full of joy and merriment whenever you are near. that is plain to see."

"She is a terror when she is not at my side." Weiss replied, knowing Pyrrha would learn that in short order. "Furthermore, she has not yet made herself useful to royal proceedings."

"Why ever not? She seems rather bright."

"She lacks the decorousness expected even among the children her own age."

"She will learn, perhaps it is simply that she's slow to uptake the complexities because she is so shy around nobles."

"Wishful thinking. I don’t suspect she will ever carry such carefully crafted social graces. Ruby was not cut form our cloth. I school her appropriately, however I find there is only so much that you can mold a child.”

Pyrrha nodded, Ruby was born with silver eyes. She wasn’t meant to be a socialite. She was meant to become one of the finest warriors among the fortress. It was plain to see that Ruby firmly took after her mother, and Summer Rose was no socialite either. The woman had always prided herself an outcast in life, having no interests in the mind games found among nobles. She visited at whim, but she was never truly absorbed into life at the fortress. It was easy to think that Ruby would grow to be the same. “You coin her a barbarian, and yet you wish her to be that way, my lady? It seems she has softened you to her way of thinking.”

Weiss said nothing to that. Her own thoughts firmly conflicted in that matter. Instead she considered that it was paramount that Ruby grow accustomed to the wilderness. The child had studies to upkeep, but her destiny would be here, in the depths of the woods. Ruby was right to lean to barbarous behavior. She was no princess, would never be slated to rise above the peasantry that she was.

“A time will come when I will no longer tolerate her youthful indiscretion. However that day is not for you to question. You will learn soon enough just what sort of troublemaker she can be. I warn you, you will require a firm hand with Ruby." Weiss replied then. "Leniency tends to inspire mischief.”

“I’ll do well to keep that in mind.” Pyrrha nodded.

“See that you do.” Weiss replied, feeling no need to extrapolate further as she came to a stop in a carefully chosen meadow. “Ruby.”

The girl sped to her call, once again clinging to her happily. “Here I am!”

Weiss had never been fond of that, and certainly never when she was about to offer instruction. She pried the girl off, setting her down. “Do not wander far from this spot.”

Ruby knew what that meant, only nodding slightly as she regarded the glacial woman. “Okay.”

Weiss turned to Pyrrha impassively. Wordlessly she called several more summons to her side, sending them away into the perimeter. It was only once they disappeared from view that she spoke. “You will protect Ruby with your life. See that she does not come to harm.”

“Yes, my lady.” Pyrrha nodded with a deep bow. “Of course.”

Blue eyes cut to Ruby, the child already wandering towards a tiny white butterfly. “Ruby.” Weiss said, taking only a small pleasure in the way the red hooded child jolted from her crouched position.

Silver eyes looking up at her, knowing instantly that she wasn’t to touch it. “I was just looking.”

“You will stay with Lady Nikos.” Weiss told her in a tone that offered no room for argument. “Obey her well in my absence.”

Ruby nodded very willingly. “I will.”

As she took her leave, Weiss firmly doubted it.


	5. Chapter 5

** Dilectio  
Chapter 5 **

The bandits were agitated. Winter was restlessly at work due to Raven's continued punishments. Weeks had passed since any sign of Salem had been reported in the area. Blake had found herself spending more time in her old homeland as she carefully deliberated her next move. She could travel outside of the lands she knew. The world was likely incredibly vast and Salem could be elsewhere. Thinking to bring the matter up with Yang had only lasted long enough to mentally berate herself.

Salem would be back, and if that demon returned while they were away in search of her…

Blake refused to think of what might happen. Instead she busied herself with small projects. Gambol Shroud was in dire need of repair and it was of utmost importance that she tend to the complicated weapon. The only place suitable was the smithy in her tribal village. There was scouting to be done, village headmen to visit, and Blake had gone alone to see to these matters. With Ilia safely under Yang’s watch once more the group took shelter outside the bandit camp. Yang needed to await a supply of ammunition, but Blake headed out. Promising to return in due time, she had already stopped at all of the villages needing her attention.

Now she had time to return home. To sit, to think, to grieve. Slowly placing the pieces of her life together. The first project of hers was to repair the leaking roof of her family home. A project that she had been doing slowly, the chore never seeming to be finished. Over the sound of a hammer striking a nail, Blake heard something else. Crying, that of a child. It was distant, but clear to her. The Faunus ears atop her head twitching like tiny radar as she attempted to locate the exact direction. Leaping off the roof she began her search.

The child cried at length, and Blake could only hope that she wasn’t hurt. Then she heard howls accompany the crying. She continued carefully through the wilds, sure she was on the correct path as the lonely wailing grew more desperate. Blake found the girl curled up against a hollowed out log. A large beast nearby guarding her. There was only one child Blake could think of that such a creature would be inclined to protect.

“Ruby, is that you?” Blake called out in disbelief.

“Kitty lady?”

“Yeah.” She said cautiously, mentally wincing at the name. “Yeah, it’s me.”

The sniffling girl poked her head out of the log. Her arms wrapping around the massive creature. It gave her a small lick, as though to comfort her, but its eyes were not on the girl. Blake took a step forward only for the white Beowolf to snap at her with a deep snarl. “Woah….” She said taking that same step back. “Easy…”

“He doesn’t like it when people come near.” Ruby sniffled by way of explanation.

Blake bit back a shaky sigh. That white beast wasn’t going to play nice. She’d either have to kill it or try a new tactic. “My name’s Blake. You should call me that. What are you doing out here?” She asked, crouching down by the nearest bush. she hoped being lower to the ground would be her less of a target. The beast watched her anyway.

“I don’t know.” Ruby said then, curling deeper into the white fur. “I was playing tag, I got lost. I went fast, but I forget other people can’t go fast like me. I don’t know where I'm supposed to be…”

“Ruby… it’s dangerous out here… If you come with me, I can take you back to my home.”

“I can’t… Weiss will be mad.” Ruby said, looking up at the sky when a whole new fear struck her. “The sun’s going away…”

Nightfall was coming. She couldn’t just leave Ruby here alone in the dark. It was a boon that Blake knew of the Schnee semblance. She had battled alongside Winter long enough to know the details that were kept hidden from most of the public. “Weiss will find you. With that Grimm by you, she knows where you are.”

“That’s why I can’t go…”

“If you come with me, it can come too.” Blake reasoned. “She’ll still know where to find you if it comes along, but it has to be nice.”

“He won’t bite.” Ruby told her. “He only hurts bad people.” Yet, Ruby didn’t move. Going someplace else scared her. “You’re not bad, are you?”

“Who told you that?”

“Weiss.” Ruby said as more tears trickled down her face. "She says that about a lot of people..."

“You use her name like you're best friends.” Blake said, trying to see if she could build any level of trust. “You must be close.”

Ruby nodded, saying nothing to that. She wasn’t supposed to talk to strangers about that sort of thing. It was dangerous to talk about her home and upbringing. "I like her. She takes care of me."

"That's good. You need someone to take care of you. You're still so young." Blake licked her lips. She had no idea what to do. “If you come with me, I can protect you. We can go someplace safe. Weiss might be a little mad now, but she would be really mad if you got hurt.”

Ruby struggled at length, sniffling again as a decision she had trouble making was placed in front of her. She could go, or she could stay. She clung to the large white Grimm and buried her head into his fur. The creature licked her cheek again in response, soft sounds of distress coming from its throat. It almost sounded like a helpless puppy, and not a creature able to rip flesh from bone.

Blake couldn't help but wonder about its true nature. Could being bound to a human give it some measure of complex emotional response? Or was it simply that it was expected to behave this way? Winter didn't tend to befriend her summons, didn't keep them as pets. Outside of battle she rarely used them at all. Pushing the oddity aside, Blake knew she had larger matters to deal with.

“I bet you’re hungry.” Blake tried, standing up slowly so as not to agitated the creature protecting the girl. “I have food and clean water. I can make you something tasty. You'll be safe with me.”

Ruby nodded then, that offer swaying her as she crawled out from the hollowed out log she had been hiding in. Clinging to the white Beowolf she stepped out to begin following Blake to her home. Wherever that was.

* * *

“It seems she is far more disobedient than I first suspected.” Pyrrha observed unhappily, although no one was there to hear her. “A curious youth to be sure, perhaps just a little too fearless for her own good.”

The mutterings did little to soothe a small twinge of fear with her. It had settled beneath firmly attained logic. There were so many things to consider, and Pyrrha didn't have the time for any of them. She had known of the girl’s semblance, residing in the fortress made it impossible not to know of it. Pyrrha had also heard rumors of Ruby's disregard for obedience, and lack of proper decorum. She had tempered of those murmurs with her own knowledge of children.

To her it was simple. Ruby was no blueblood, and it was cruel to treat the child as if she had any reach to Schnee lands. She had no rights to it, and she never would. She couldn't be expected to carry herself with nobility if she didn't even have the honor and prestige that came with it.

Even if the girl was a bit prone to trouble, Pyrrha hadn’t thought Ruby could be so easily distracted to the point of danger. A game of tag had gone too far out of hand as Ruby had forgotten the golden rule. She had used her semblance, and now Pyrrha had lost sight of her. Thankfully, not all was lost.

Small sights presented themselves to anyone willing to behold them. To the expert huntress they were the obvious trail of a wayward little girl having far too much fun. Leaves scattered upon the ground. They left a trail. Muddy footprints Ruby’s size left imprints in fresh mud. Broken twigs were freshly snapped. Empty branches where the greenery had once perched promised that Ruby had gone in this direction. A fork in the path brought her to a standstill. Both looked similar, but it was the squashed bush further down one of the paths that called to her. Almost as if Ruby had crash-landed into the unfortunate greenery before speeding off again. Pyrrha smirked to herself, understanding it would be quite some time before Ruby gained a full mastery of such a semblance.

Dutifully, Pyrrha followed after those suspicious signs.

She was not alone in her quest, several of the white beasts that Weiss had left behind followed quietly among the trees. As if they understood exactly where the girl was, and also aimed to collect her. Pyrrha could only feel awe at such foresight. That Weiss had predicted this outcome was a twofold emotional gut punch. Firstly, because Weiss knew Ruby would likely manage to slip away. Secondly, because Weiss had been well aware that no one was truly capable enough to keep watch over the child.

That even the new personal body guard would fail to meet expectation.

That Weiss trusted her own summons above that of any vassal was only a slight sting to Pyrrha’s pride. Knowing all too well that Weiss was never keen to truly explain her mind to those beneath her. What bothered the red haired woman was that despite knowing all of this, she couldn’t fathom such decisions. Weiss had given her plenty of warnings, made it clear that Ruby would be no simple charge like other children would be. Pyrrha had thought it to be little more than overprotective clucking, the selfsame as any duty bound royal. Honoring a promise often meant doing so to the point of being overbearing, and Pyrrha had incorrectly assumed that to be the case.

“It seems Ruby requires a firm hand indeed.” Pyrrha muttered to herself once more, knowing it was paramount to find her.

* * *

Blake hadn’t planned supplies for more than just herself, but she knew enough of the land to find its many luxuries. Grilled river fish over the open fire was a common meal upon the road, and berries were sweet enough to be a small snack. She had only a few vegetables left over from her supplies. Carrots and potatoes that had seen better days, dicing a small bit of each and boiling them with a hint of salt and pepper would have to do. She wasn’t the cooking savant that Sun could be, but the pickled plums she’d earned from a recent extermination were certainly a treat for anyone in search of such a luxury item.

Popping one into her mouth and licking her thumb and first finger clean, she regarded the girl who greedily ate at the meal provided on the metal plate.

Who was this child, really? Why was she constantly found in places the least suited to her own safety? The stories she had heard from Yang promised that Ruby was only a lowly village girl, a baby stolen from her home and family. Weiss Schnee had firmly indicated otherwise. Ruby certainly wasn’t a child of well-breeding. Certainly not with the way she wiped her mouth on the sleeve of her shirt. Her red cloak dwarfing her as she used it as a blanket to sit near the small fire burning in the pit.

“Would you like one?” Blake said, slowly offering the glass jar to the girl. She had already learned the hard way that any unexpected approach would cause the large Grimm resting beside Ruby to snarl viciously.

Ruby regarded the jar while crinkling her nose. She shook her head as she took another large mouth full of the fish, sticking her fingers into her mouth to pull out one of the small bones that had gotten into her way. As she flung it into the fire, she denied the offering of the plumbs. “I don’t like pickles, and those look funny.”

Blake looked down at the jar perplexed. They were just plums. Plenty sweet and prized by the villages. Blake had been hesitant to accept such a show of gratitude, but the headman had insisted she take it along with her payment. Then again, Ruby likely knew none of that. She pulled one more out for herself before replacing the top. “Children usually love them, but you’re probably used to nicer things.”

Ruby shrugged. She didn’t really know for sure. She wasn’t a normal girl, she had always felt that way deep down. She just hadn’t known why. There was something she did know, though. She loved the sweet mounds found in the kitchen. The staff called it sugar, and it made the best cookies, cakes, and sweet tea she ever had. She would spend hours watching them grind it down to use for baking. “Is sugar a nice thing?”

“It’s expensive in this area. The place where you can get it tends to be crawling with Grimm. Villages don’t often risk attempting to retrieve it.” Blake told her gently. It as no small luxury, highly prized and carefully guarded. “It would be very nice to have, but many can’t afford to keep it.”

“Weiss has a lot of it.” Ruby said then, fidgeting a bit when she realized that might have been a rude thing to say. “Well, she doesn’t. The kitchen does.”

“The kitchen? Do you mean the one at home?”

“Yep.”

“Where is home, Ruby?” Blake asked. “Where do you live?”

“In the really big place with walls...”

“The fortress?” Blake asked softly as if to confirm that detail. “Atlas?”

Ruby nodded.

“Don’t you think it would be safer to be there?” Blake asked then. “I hear it is very well guarded.”

Ruby slumped, her chin falling down onto her chest. For comfort, she curled closer to the large white Grimm. It licked at her, but the girl seemed far too distressed to care. She looked so helpless in that instant, so afraid. How could such a sweet and gentle child be so upset at the question? She was safe there, wasn’t she?

It annoyed Blake, not knowing the answer to that question.

If they’d been hurting her, Blake would find out. For now though, bringing up apparently unpleasant memories solved nothing. “Hey it’s okay. We don’t have to talk about that if you don’t want to…”

“When will Weiss come?” Ruby asked then.

“I don’t know.” Blake said, wishing that the glacial woman would never turn up.

* * *

Weiss cursed her luck. It didn’t rightly matter that there was no trace of Salem. She had been hoping to survey her lands a little longer before having to go in search of Ruby Rose once again. She had only stopped at two of the wealthy villages in the area, taking tea with one headman and a simple lunch with another. Both had offered her lodgings for the night, but she had declined, choosing instead to rest peacefully under the stars.

It was only after the dawn broke in the sky that she felt the need to make her journey to the wayward child. Somehow Ruby had found her way out of Pyrrha’s protection. Weiss could feel the pure vitriol emanating from one of her summons. It promised that the girl was safe, but its annoyance was tangible. She had no need to rush, and saw no reason to go fleeing through the forest at great speed. She was far away and her journey would take time, but that was simply the way of the wilds.

First she would locate Pyrrha, she was closer. Easier to reach. Otherwise unharmed and also heading in the direction of Ruby anyway. The cluster of Grimm that trotted beside the woman were vaguely discontented, but nothing like the one that called to her keeping watch over Ruby. It wouldn’t due to dawdle at the other villages she planned to visit, and so she began her march with a regal stride.

It was late in the day when she came across the redheaded woman. Pyrrha trudging through the woods, seemingly on a warpath. Weiss withheld her amusement on that. Pyrrha likely didn’t know Ruby’s condition. The bodyguard truly seemed to fear for her. That was satisfactory, even if the outcome hadn’t been to her liking. At least she knew enough to follow the girl's trail. That was a skill Jaune lacked, but Pyrrha had much to learn.

“You need not storm the forest in such a way.” Weiss replied, making herself known to the bodyguard.

“My lady, I have lost sight of Ruby.” Pyrrha said, turning to her with a clear displeasure on her features. “I have attempted to locate her, but I haven’t yet been able to do so.”

“The girl is unharmed.” Weiss said, strictly for the sake of observation. Neutrality a mask she kept close at hand, it was one of many tools she held aloft. It wasn’t unlike the coercion that she rarely needed to place in front of her demands. It was rare that anyone would deny her whims or refuse to bend to her will. Doing so would be costly. “If she were, you’d have been cut down by now.”

“A fitting punishment, my lady.” Pyrrha replied. "I would willingly accept, I only request you allow me the comfort of knowing that Ruby has been returned safely to your side first."

It was in this way that Weiss found Pyrrha more apt at the task than Jaune. He was prone to panic when it came to his own life, but Pyrrha was no more than concerned for the child’s welfare. She would cut down others who attempted to do harm upon her charge, or be cut down herself in the process. That sort of loyalty was hard to come by, even trickier to keep. When there were so many temptations offered to those willing to commit treason, danger never ceased.

“Fitting, but currently not within the many considerations I’m entertaining." Weiss replied dryly. "Come, we will retrieve the girl.”

"You know of her exact location, my lady?" Pyrrha asked hopefully.

"The semblance is not so perfect. It is not the exact location that I know, or even the exact circumstance. What I feel is more aptly described as a drawing force. My summons call to me, compelling me to their side."

"I never realized your semblance was so vague, my lady."

"Subtle is perhaps the better description. I suppose if you are to be my bodyguard, you should know the details." Weiss said loftily, bypassing her bodyguard to take the lead. "One who does not have the semblance could never understand the magnitude of it's power. However, that power comes at a price. I must be cunning to wield it. Your semblance needs only training, but mine requires something more."

"It was told to me that your semblance takes a great deal of training. However the finer points were never passed onto me."

"When it comes to my semblance there is only one thing you must know. Summoning Grimm is not foolproof. They may do my bidding, but my summons are not limited by my semblance. No matter how tame they may appear, they are still creatures of Grimm. Monstrous by their nature. My summons are no more than Grimm that have been purified of evil intentions. That doesn't preclude them from being wild, even rabid."

"That would be concerning, I'd imagine."

"Only to one who fails to understand them." Weiss replied. "They do not act tame because I can summon them at whim. They are tame because this authority is not theirs to question. Much like a dog is loyal to a worthy master, my Grimm are loyal to me. However, just like a dog could choose to turn upon someone unsuitable, my summons could also choose to turn upon me."

"I see..." Pyrrha murmured gravely. "I was not aware that it was so difficult to control them."

"Control is a rather harsh word. Without the desire for evil, they are like other dangerous animals. Grimm have their own personalities, moods, and needs. For example, Beowolves are not solitary creatures by nature. Therefore, to keep them separated from contact with their own kind for any length of time agitates their sensibilities. A Nevermore unable to fly with its flock will not roost peacefully. Agitating these simple logics can be dangerous."

"Why do they seem so fond of Ruby, my lady?" Pyrrha asked. "They are taken with her, allow her to do with them what I don't suspect an average animal would. Certainly not common wolves, bears, or birds of prey."

"Part of it is simply Ruby as she is, she is fond of them and she treats them like household pets. She even names them. Part of it could also be my bidding at play, but there is more to it than that. Ruby is the one authority greater than any Schnee. Perhaps only lesser to Salem herself. All silver eyed warriors have such authority, and a Grimm removed from evil can see it clearly." Weiss said then. "If Ruby were to use her powers, a corrupted Grimm would be nullified from existence entirely. I'd suspect that a Grimm purified from Salem's influence would notice that power and be moved by it."

"How disquieting that must be..."

“Indeed, but they have wills of their own. They may choose to turn on her as well. With that said, I wish a full report. How did you come to lose track of the girl?”

“It was a game she wished to play.” Pyrrha said, feeling smaller for that admittance. “She seemed rather fond of it, but she lost her good sense in the merriment. I was attempting to track her, but the whirlwind of carnage ended a while back. The white Grimm seem to know of her location.”

Of course they did, it was their job to know. Just as it was Pyrrha’s job not to allow the girl from her sight.

“The child is a rapscallion on a good day.” Weiss told her curtly. “Disobedience becomes her and jovial ineptitude clouds her judgment. I warned you once that you must be strict. This shall be your only leniency in these matters. Your job is to lay down your life for her, for me, and for all that is the honor of these lands. This grievous oversight will not be forgiven again.”

* * *

There was little Blake could do but allow the girl to follow her around like a small shadow. It was hard to entertain a child that wasn’t used to the simplicities of village life. Particularly a life that was without any creature comforts. The girl was unused to the wealth of chores that had to be done to do even basic tasks. Most homes had no indoor plumbing. That was a luxury only for the incredibly wealthy. A village headman might have a small family well and an outhouse beside his home, but even that was impossible for the poor villages without much land.

Water had to be fetched from the nearby river or streams, filtered and boiled to be used for drinking. Wood had to be cut for lumber and tinder, fires had to be kept fed, and meals took time to prepare. In a fully functioning village working together made these chores a little easier. Blake had to do them all alone when she came to her empty homeland.

Ruby took a small interest in all of these things, but she was little help. She couldn’t hoist full buckets of water upon her shoulders, and knew nothing of building fires. Chopping wood was not a task for a girl so young, but tending to the cooking was an entirely alien concept to the girl. She had only one paramount task at her age, the same as all young girls of blue-blooded households. To be well educated, and become useful in high society. Even that seemed a failing though, because Ruby was neither prim nor proper.

Her curiosity was limitless as she explored the single weaponry building still standing after all these years. The tools of Blake's trade lined the walls. Weapons half-finished would never see completion, and those that had been finished by their owners would likely never see use. They were simply memories now, hanging on the walls as a reminder of the men and women who spent their days preparing for war against the Grimm.

Blake could recall a time long gone when she was the exact same way as Ruby. Curious and eager to learn. Following her own father around and eying the walls with young eyes and a thirst for adventure. All villages had their warriors, guards, and tacticians, but not all born within a village or tribe would be suited to the task. Those that showed promise were trained young, girls at the start of their cycle and boys as soon as they were strong enough to hold a blade.

They would practice for years before stepping foot into battle against lesser Grimm. It would take several more before they'd be chosen for difficult missions across the landscape. Only the strongest men and women could lay claim to the particularly dangerous tasks, and those that did took immeasurable pride in their skill.

Ruby’s small hands traced lines on the metal scales and polished bone used to make armor. She eyed the simple swords and hatchets forged by those of lesser skill, and took pause at the complex and versatile weaponry made by those of the highest. Gun powder sat out of reach, but hollowed out stone and blown glass sat low on the table along with rounded out bits of metal. The tools of the bomb makers. Chains and traps made to contain Grimm were out of reach to less experienced hands, but fishing nets and small animal traps for food were easy to hold. Farming equipment that had once been newly prepared to be doled out to families now gathered dust. The next bountiful harvest would never come.

Blake had to keep a close eye on Ruby, ensuring she didn’t harm herself.

“What’s that one?” Ruby asked, pointing at the disassembled weapon Blake saw fit to clean.

“This is my weapon, Gambol Shroud.” Blake told her. “I use it to kill Grimm.”

“What else do you use it for?”

To an untrained huntress that question would have been offensive, but children were perceptive. The world was full of other dangers. Blake only quirked her lips gently in the face of such innocence. There were a lot of ways she utilized her weapon, even innocuous little things. Yet, that came with the ideology that all weapons were merely tools. That wasn’t a lesson for a girl who would never carry such a thing herself. “Weaponry like mine isn’t made for self-defense. A basic sword, bow, or spear would accomplish that. I choose to hunt Grimm, so Gambol Shroud was forged with that task in mind.”

“I’ve seen weapons used for all kinds of things.” Ruby said then. “Like a mallet that can squash a Grimm, or just put a nail into wood. Weiss say huntresses need tools like that.”

“She’s teaching you to be one?” Blake asked, watching as Ruby shook her head.

“It’s not that. Not yet.” Ruby said softly as she began petting the large white wolf at her side nervously. “I just… see a lot of them. If I ask things, sometimes Weiss will tell me.”

"You might find that some things shouldn't be asked."

“I like to know new things. Weiss protects me. I get to live at the fortress with her, and come out into the woods with her.” Ruby began, looking out to the open door where the sun was high in the sky. She wondered when the woman would come. “Everyone does what she says. They really like her, and treat her very well…so, they treat me well because she orders it. But… there are a lot of rules. She gets mad when you don’t listen.”

“Do you like the fortress?”

At that, Ruby was conflicted. She liked Weiss. Then again, Weiss was all she had. She didn’t have any parents, any friends, and that was lonely. “It’s all I know. That and the woods. That’s it.”

Blake’s brows knit together worriedly. The only Schnee she had gotten to know had been Winter, and her brief recollections about the fortress were a rare thing. From all of the tales that Blake had been told by her father and other Faunus, Winter wasn’t anything like them. Winter simply didn’t get along with her siblings. Disagreed with them regularly. She flat out hated her little brother, and hadn’t seen him in years. The sisters had run-ins with each other occasionally, but it wasn’t ever on overly friendly terms. Then again, Blake often wondered of Weiss knew how to be anything but the cold and calculating ruler of her own lands.

If, unlike Winter, she couldn’t form any sort of meaningful bonds with others. Yet, if that were true, what of Ruby? There seemed to be a bond among them somehow, even if it was probably only one sided.

“Have you never visited other villages?” Blake asked, wondering just how sheltered the child was. How twisted those choices seemed. “There are a lot of them in the area.”

“Weiss won’t let me.” Ruby told her. “That’s a rule. I can stay in the forest with one of her guards, but no villages for me.”

“It would be safer there, wouldn’t it?”

“Weiss doesn’t think so.”

“That’s ironic, considering how dangerous the forests are.”

“If Weiss says I shouldn’t go to the villages, it must be true.” It was then she looked to Blake with a curious expression. “There are people who say that Weiss is mean. That she is not nice and very cruel. Weiss is always nice to me, even when she wouldn’t be for others. You believe me, don’t you?”

“I don’t know her like you do.” Blake said, but in truth, she didn’t. “I don’t know what to believe.”

“But she was nice to you.” Ruby pointed out. “Weiss is not very nice to people who don’t listen, and you weren’t a good listener. She could have punished you, like she punishes everyone else… but… she didn’t. I wonder why…”

“That makes two of us.” Blake said uncomfortably. It kept her up at night, and she didn’t like thinking about it. Her gut told her that she really didn’t want to find out, and like always she pushed the matter aside.


	6. Chapter 6

** Dilectio  
Chapter 6 **

The sky was filled with hues of orange and pink when Weiss finally arrived in the dilapidated Faunus homeland left to rot away. She had no idea why Ruby would be in a place like this, but she stomped passed the broken gates and found a home in far better repair than all the others. There Ruby was, safe and sound. However, seeing the clear source of the white Grimm’s ire made her own annoyance rise. Pyrrha was quick to take in the same sight, seemingly breathing in a sigh of relief.

Weiss wished she felt the same, but her blood ran so cold it burned. Of all the people for Ruby to befriend, it had to be this Faunus…

“Weiss, you’re here!” Ruby called out zipping away from the fire she sat in front of with her incredible speed. Stopping just short of landing on top of her favorite person, she settled for capturing Weiss’s hand in her own. “Did you go see the headmen? Did you get to fight the Grimm?”

Weiss could only roll her eyes as a silent curse left her lips. Pulling her hand from the girl’s grasp only had Ruby reaching for it anew. “You disobeyed me, Ruby.”

“I know.” She said, visibility deflating. “It was an accident…”

“That does not matter.” Weiss replied in a cruel monotone that betrayed nothing of her fury. “What matters is that you forgot your place, and in doing so you put undue burden upon my shoulders. Do you understand?”

Ruby nodded, she understood all that she needed to. “Yes…”

“Weiss, you stupid fool.” Blake interjected harshly as she made her way to the group. “This is the second time she’s wandered off on her own. Ruby was terrified. You should have never allowed her to be in those woods unattended.”

“That’s Lady Schnee to you, huntress.” Pyrrha said, stepping forward. Such disrespect would never be tolerated, and Pyrrha couldn’t abide it. It would allow Weiss to seem weak, able to be toppled, and that was a deadly mistake. Though her voice was placid, she never made idle threats. “I’d suggest you watch your tongue.”

“I’ll do nothing of the sort.” Blake bit out. “You’re on my turf. These are respected Faunus lands, or have you come to take that away too?”

“Lady Nikos, you may ease yourself. This Faunus is no threat to me, nor that which is mine.” Weiss said, using the formality to prove to Blake that Pyrrha had her own station. It was lesser than her own, but still unwise to insult. They were two authorities not to be crossed. “Besides that, she is quite correct. This is the resting place of the Belladonna tribe. We would not be trespassing here if it were not for your failing, so do remember that as well.”

“Yes, my lady.” Pyrrha said softly. Obeying simply because it was an order, no matter how kind.

“As for you, huntress. We will not linger. Your self-imposed duty to the girl is done.”

“Like hell it is.” Blake spat. “She could have been killed.”

“That would not be very unlikely.” Weiss replied as cold blue eyes viciously bore into Ruby. The girl wouldn’t have been harmed by these common Grimm. They were not her true threat, and they never would be. “In fact, some might call it impossible. Though, I don’t expect you to fathom the subtle reasons why.”

“You weren’t there.” Blake said. “If you had been, you would have known.”

Weiss considered that, but only long enough to find the idea itself foolish. If Ruby had been terrified, for the better. If she had been so scared, perhaps she would learn to cease her careless adventures. She certainly didn’t seem to be tormented by the experience. Whatever negative impact it may have had, it was hardly a concern if she was no longer so rattled. “Huntress, a word of advice. A rightfully well placed fear does the girl little harm.”

Ruby reached up, tugging at her keeper. “Weiss, she fishes and repairs weapons like the guards. Plus she has such a small house, it’s so tiny compared to ours.” Ruby said excitedly, having no real concept of the danger she had been in. Instead she was pointing excitedly at Blake. “Do all villages look like this one? Is that way I’m not allowed to go to them? Blake has a weapon called Gambol Shroud and fights Grimm with it. Do all villagers do that, like she does?”

“She seems not fearful enough, my lady.” Pyrrha said with a sad shake of her head. The happy babbling causing a mild throb in the back of her mind. Having spent so long worrying for the girl, relief was incredibly short lived. “Nor very aware of what danger she could be in.”

“Quite…” Weiss agreed.

“But there wasn’t any danger! Blake said she’d protect me. No Grimm came and we had a good time. She was very nice.” Ruby chirped happily, unaware of Pyrrha’s concerns or the greater implications. “We got to eat fish from the river last night.” It was then a thought came to her and Ruby sniffed at herself. Playing around in the river probably washed away all of the oil the servants usually put into her baths. “Do I smell all fishy? I can't tell. Will I need a bath once we get home?”

“Silence, Ruby.” Weiss said quietly, far too quietly for Ruby’s liking. Then she turned to her bodyguard. “Take her to find a suitable camp for the evening. I will be shortly behind.”

“Yes, my lady.” Pyrrha said dutifully. “Come along now, Ruby. It’s time to leave.”

Ruby obeyed fearfully as she pressed her lips together, she much rather have been shouted at. A quiet and soft-spoken Weiss, was a Weiss that was beyond furious with her. A clipped Weiss was the same. At least when Weiss shouted she was less angry and quicker to forgive a mistake. Her glacial keeper was prone to outbursts behind closed doors, a fact that Ruby was exposed to often enough. Those moments were tempered by the fact that at least she knew exactly what her keeper was thinking at the time.

Those obvious thoughts were concealed greatly when she was forcibly calm and collected. A combination Ruby knew to be dangerous, even if that danger was never inflicted onto her. She followed Pyrrha sadly, knowing she had earned a very great ire for such an accident. There would be another scolding, of that she was sure.

Weiss wasn’t keen to worry herself over the trite matter. Instead a cool and appraising gaze took stock of the fallen Belladonna lands. It was curious that any Faunus would come here, encroaching on the resting dead. Weiss might have loathed the Faunus, but there were certain things she prided herself on. Maintaining peaceful relations where possible came as a priority. Doling out small chunks of land to the Faunus kept the peace among the villages who wanted nothing to do with them. For Weiss it was that simple.

The Faunus had not retaken this land, leaving it to be ignored despite their diminishing territory. So why then, was one here now? Why did this one disrupt the resting place of such highly regarded dead?

“As I understand it, this is a holy place." Weiss said, though she spoke more to herself than to the woman in front of her. "Yes, I believe I personally handed these lands over to the fellow White Fang tribes after Salem defiled this place. With the only Faunus male worth his salt gone, there was certainly no reason to keep my attention to it."

"A backhanded gift at best. You just didn't want to help bury the fallen. Prior to that you left us on our own. You didn't even think to help when we asked."

Weiss ignored the insult. The woman was too daft to truly understand her methods. "I doubt the tribes would take kindly to you inhabiting such a well-respected graveyard.”

“This is my home, and among the Faunus the territory belongs to me.” Blake bit out. “I have a right to be here, and my brother and sister tribes wouldn’t even think to question that. Until I die, I am the only one with rights to this place.”

“That would make you a Belladonna.” Weiss said softly. “Last that I heard, none survived Salem.”  
  
“You’ve heard wrong, then.”

"Doubtful."

Grinding her teeth together, Blake could feel the contempt aimed at her. The selfsame she returned, the feeling mutual. “You’ve never taken the time to visit the Faunus tribes. If you had, you would have known that I still lived. For all that I know, I’m the last surviving Belladonna.”

“Surely if you know of Yang, you know of Winter.” Weiss replied then. “My elder sister is many things, however I have never known her to lie. It is beneath her.”

“Flat out lie? No. Tell a version of the truth? Well, that’s just pragmatism.” Blake said, flicking her head to the side in the direction of her home. “Besides, she isn’t wrong. The Belladonna line dies out with me. I’m a huntress, and that could happen at any time. Even you’ve made threats on my life, or have you forgotten that?”

“I forget nothing…” Weiss replied, taking a few steps forward to get a closer look at this woman. Meticulously, taking in each and every one of her features. Upon closer inspection, she did have some of the Belladonna blood in her at least. The curves of her body likely taking after her mother, soft, yielding. The women were known to be particularly attractive, and Blake was no different. It was the dangerous glint in her eyes that spoke of more. If Weiss thought back to her meetings with Ghira, rare as they had been, it was clear as day. This Faunus had her father’s sprit.

There was something very attractive about the woman, Faunus or not. Weiss wasn’t brainless enough to ignore the fact that her silence appraisal was being returned. There was an unquestionable sense of pride she took at being looked at with such a heated expression. Something so dangerous that she otherwise would have drawn her sword. Yet she knew Faunus aggression, understood that the way Blake’s ears perked up upon her head was not that of a Faunus thinking of unleashing an attack.

No, the woman was clearly thinking something more.

“What are you looking at me like that for?” Blake felt the need to ask, though in truth she was just as mystified and disgusted at her own lingering gaze. It was inexplicable, and completely unforgivable. Even so, she couldn’t deny it. There was something mysterious about Weiss Schnee. Impossible to pin down, and compelling to ponder. Weiss had a radiance about her, commanding and so exacting that it was nearly overbearing. Yet, she was no typical ruler, either. She willingly walked the lands, and tended to do it alone it seemed. Lacking the full escort most rulers would cling to. She was not fat from succulence or boorishly loud. She contradicted every notion Blake kept about the particularly wealthy. Defying the standard that most Faunus claimed about the Schnee’s. Weiss was simply pretty to look too. That was its own complication, Blake chose to brush aside for later. “Don’t tell me I’ve caught your attention.”

“If you have, you’ve only yourself to blame.” Weiss told her. “You’ve made a spectacle of yourself more times than I care to count.”

“You could just ignore it.”

“As could you.”

Yet, that really wasn’t true, and Blake could feel the underpinnings of her desire mixing with trepidation. The fact that Weiss hadn’t concealed her interests at all was as astounding as it was unsettling. She had to fight to maintain her stance, to remember that Weiss was no Faunus herself, nor a human who tolerated them. She was by no means her elder sister either.

“This is insanity.” Blake said in a way that also berated herself. “You’re a human and I’m a Faunus, whatever interest you have in me has to be misplaced.”

“In that we can agree.” Weiss replied relaxing her eyes only slightly from that magnificent form in front of her. “I was simply wishing to ascertain if you were indeed a Belladonna. Anything more is pure conjecture on your part, though it seems it is not the same in reverse.”

“Think what you wish, it would be inappropriate either way.”

“Factual, although that you presume such an interest in the first place remains questionable at best. Yes, you have my interest, you are correct about that.” Weiss told her with a placid nod and one last gaze to the surrounding homeland left to squalor. “However, understand me now. Any interest I take in you comes strictly from the line you claim to be from. No one presumes my intentions or trifles in my affairs lightly. You’ll do well to remember that. I will take my leave of this place. You will keep your distance from the girl.”

As Weiss turned to make her leave, Blake stopped her.

“Wait…” Blake said, blurring in front of the ruler with arms outstretched. Afterimages of clones not remaining long enough to take sight of. “I’m not done with you.”

“I, however, am finished with you.” Weis replied. “Stand aside.”

“You’re not leaving here until we finish talking, and we’re not done yet.” Blake demanded. “I have questions,, and I want them answered.”

“It would seem to me that you have forgotten your place in this world.” Weiss told her, having no interesting of staying any longer. “You’ll speak no further if you value your life, most certainly never in demand. You have no command over this authority, and you shall stand aside and return to your humble home. Follow me to make further demands, and you shall perish.”

Weiss began walking again, and Blake could only grit her teeth, biting back a curse.

“She belongs with her family!” Blake shouted at her. “A village with others like herself at least. She’s not happy, and as long as she’s with you, she never will be!”

* * *

The nerve of that Faunus was astounding, but Weiss had little time to think upon the outrageous claims. They spewed from the Faunus so quickly, flying from her mouth with vitriol. She didn't have the time to ponder them. She had work to do, appointments to keep, and thoughts of the Faunus were not worth her time. She had other matters far more imperative to contend. Family matters, dynastic ones.

“They say the child will be a boy.”

“Impossible.”

“It is true, my lady.” James said as he gave a formal report from the north. “The medics claim it will be at least.”

“The medics are often lacking in good sense.” Weiss told him dryly. “They make such claims because to think the child is female wouldn’t be in the slightest bit auspicious."

"My lady with all due respect, are you not auspicious yourself?"

"My sister was fathomed to be born male too. They predicted it with ferocity, no one doubted they'd be wrong." Weiss told him, tone cutting deeply. "My father had expectations because of the claims."

James nodded, that he knew. "When pride fills in a soul the way our late lord's did, I make no excuse for it."

That didn't stop the pain. Long held, deeply buried. Weiss showed none of it, but it her father was a tyrant. "Say what you will. It was a towering disappointment when that prediction failed. He produced two females before he finally found success producing a son. The first time was their only mistake. My father was so irate they never thought to make such bold statements again. I was spared the same dishonor, but if they had been idiotic enough to make that claim again, hell would have been paid."

“The medics are more educated now than they were at that time. The ones in the north are particularly well trained.” James replied gently. “They are sure this child will be a male. The villages in the north are already bantering about the child regardless. They make bold claims too, my lady."

"I think that would be obvious." Weiss snapped under her breath.

"Also indecorous." James said uneasily. "They claim quite strongly that Lord Whitley's child will be next in the Schnee line to preside over these lands. Man or woman it no longer matters. You have set the precedent, my lady. You are so well respected many wouldn't dream to conclude that it couldn't happen once more."

“A falsehood, to be sure. Few women could stand in my place, and that's merely a fact.” Weiss told him. She knew he would understand. This was a world of men, women secondary. “Assuming the baby will be a male still brings into question his abilities, as well as my brother's. After all, Whitley would first need to raise him. The lad would need to grow to manhood and slay me before such a thing could happen. I’d never capitulate so willingly.”

“Wars have been started over less.” James murmured.

“Uprisings too.” Weiss agreed unhappily. "I have thought on this, I have decided such an event will not occur."

“My lady, it is paramount to think of your people. If something were to happen to you, there is no legacy for them to turn to.”

It was not lost to her that her younger brother was already married, and with a child soon to be born. She would be damned to allow him sway over her fortress, or the people that took resident in her ancestral lands. They were hers to preside over, and progeny was her utmost duty to them. A long suffering sigh slipped from her lips, there was one other person who should know of the impending child. Furthermore, it would only be right to offer the news herself. It agitated her, and she hesitated to even think that she would need to inform Winter of this child soon enough.

In due time she would see the task fulfilled, but not without first having news of her own to share.

The question was of her own flesh and blood, and if she could produce a fitting heir to the lands she claimed as her own. Weiss came to the realization she could not wait for long. It was not because her advisors wished it, or that her people hoped for it. It would not be because she held any particular woman in high regard or clear fondness. It was simply because she was in such a position that this predicament could not be ignored.

“Only the dimwitted are prone to such high degrees of cantankerousness and blinded stupidity. I will leave these lands well off when I die, that I promise you.” Weiss said thoughtfully. “Though I don’t deny that if something were to happen to me before then, that these lands would fall into dark times.”

“It would be pleasing to hear that your lands are firmly secured.” James murmured respectfully. “Upon the subject of your brother… Well, you’ve seen clearly his manners and moods, my lady. You know of them well. Is he really such a person you can entrust the future too. Could you truly trust his children?”

“Surely not, James.”

“Why hesitate?” James asked her quietly, clearing his throat when she sent him an annoyed glare. “If I may ask, my lady.”

“That is not something within your jurisdiction. It is only within my own. Leave me to my thoughts.” She said dismissing him.

Why hesitate indeed? There was no longer any point to do so. It was time to strength herself further, and that could only come with the promise of blood and bone, a legacy to lay in front of her lands and her people. That was simply the logical way to see to the matter. There was something more personal that troubled her. Something that cut her deeply.

Solitude was becoming less appealing. Weiss was woefully alone in her ambitions, and she felt it at every appearance she made, every formal address. There was no one on her arm at these gatherings, no one to present happily as her wife, and that sat ill with her. Her bed was warmed by many when she saw fit, a luxury she had of her station, but those women were just to chase away the shadows. She had never felt any significant connection from the woman of equal station she crossed paths with. The women of the Ironwood line were too fickle and pompous, lacking the firm beliefs Weiss prided herself to keep. The obvious choice was the one easiest to deny, and she worried her lips disdainfully at the mere idea.

The Schnee and Ironwood lines had always been firmly patriarchal when suitable heirs allowed for it. It was the preference, and for good reason. Men were the first to war, the first to suffer for deeds, and the first to be blamed for his failings and missteps. When a woman stepped out of line, it was the man in her life, father, husband, uncle, or brother that paid dearly. Women were thought to be useful for raising children and serving their male counterparts in every way they could. To ease the burdens men of power had upon their shoulders. Women were often thought incapable of handling such pressures, and they were a great many.

Deviating from these ideals required a woman who took grave and significant strides to overcome those ideals. It took a woman willing to stand alone. Willingly bearing the full brunt of her own failing in the place of men who were normally expected to protect her. However women of particularly high noble esteem were usually not brave in the face of a sword. They were not raised to be. Weiss was neither fearful nor silenced by such threats, and she would like her spouse to be of that same mind.

Failing that, she wanted a wife who understood her position. Who could fathom the union and rise to the occasion presented in front of her.

It was a path Weiss herself had walked, knew the trials well. She would never wish oversights. Wouldn't risk such an unforgiveable failing upon her own child. Therefore, an Ironwood bride would never do. They were raised to be fine ladies of the noble houses. Unfortunately, they knew very little of the complex politics or dark times that would topple kingdoms if the rulers themselves were incompetent.

Perhaps a lady of her own royal court then? One more suited to politics and worldly problems? That would do far better. A lady that saw to her needs willingly, and came to her bed unflinchingly. A loving mother, willing to bear offspring. The selfsame lady also able to stand with grace and power in the event that Weiss ever found herself absentee and unable to do so. That would also be satisfactory.

It would have to be so, Weiss decided. Her word was law, after all. The only question was, who would she choose?

Many a young noble woman had warmed her bed in the past. Many quite attractive at first glance, and pleasurable enough to enjoy. Yet none of these woman would likely be the political powerhouse Weiss desperately needed, and she doubted their skills in motherhood. Most would have been wedded by now if they were even remotely sought after for those qualities, that Weiss was sure.

She would need help to consider this matter carefully, but the thought was highly unpleasant. A loud crash and a startled screech called her attention, and she could only sigh. It seemed Ruby had gotten herself into trouble once again.

* * *

The shattered tea set was inconsequential. Glynda would have it repaired in record time with flawless precision. Her semblance allowed such a thing, and it was one of many reasons that Weiss kept her on staff. A far lesser noble sent in from the honorable Goodwitch line. They were an old and beloved line, held in high regard although they were of lesser stature than the Schnee or the Ironwood lines. Glynda was one of the few that was able to control and educate the energetic eight year old.

Frankly it was an impressive achievement in and of itself, particularly given the way Ruby found mischief.

“Ruby, you belong at your studies.” Weiss said within the confines of her personal library. “When Glynda is finished tending to your mess, she will come to collect you. Until then you may sit and read.”

“But I don’t want to.”

Weiss looked up from the document she had been reading. A request for supplies urgently needing her attention. That Ruby also seemed to need her attention was a small annoyance that she would see to. She didn’t wish her young ward to come to distress. “You like to read.” Weiss concluded, as if that alone was reason enough for Ruby to obey.

“I want to go fishing and play in the grass.”

“Out of the question.” Weiss told her, thinking the matter done.

“But I want to.” Ruby said. “And I want to weave and knit, and go visit the army. I want to watch the hunters train too. I can’t do that in my room. Glynda doesn’t take me.”

The requests were so varied, some of them expected and others not at all. “What?” Weiss asked quietly in the face of such odd demands. To ask to see the army was a common request. To watch the hunters and huntresses train for battle was something the little girl loved to do. To weave and knit had never been asked for. She doubted Ruby had been aware of how cloth was made, let alone the fine craftsmanship of sewing. Those were the tasks of female artisans, and Ruby had never taken any interest in their trades.

“I want to learn things like the girls in a village would.” Ruby said then, folding her hands in her lap as she looked to Weiss hopefully. “They would learn that, Glynda says so. My mom was an expert huntress. She could do all sorts of stuff!”

“It would be beneath you.” Weiss told her then, icy blue eyes returning to the parchment. "You must learn to be useful among royalty, and that means you must be firmly educated. You must be able to read and write flawlessly."

"I can read good already."

"It is not nearly good enough." Weiss told her, but she understood that the girl had no concept of her own luxuries. "Consider it a boon, Ruby. Many girls are not taught to read in small villages."

In point of fact, Weiss knew Ruby would never have learned how to read well in a village. Summer certainly couldn't read complex notes or detailed formal letters. She managed simple written directives with great difficulty. Spoken word was her mastery, never the written form. It was one thing Summer often regretted, loathing her inability to read the long pages of literature upon library shelves. Then again, Summer was a valued huntress, raised to be so. She had no need for the formalities of the social elite. Her skill was enough to offer her prized respect. Summer knew how to do the skilled task of women's labor. As a child of a village, that had been the expectation. Before she took up a blade and a desire for valor, she was raised to be useful as a woman should be.

“But Blake says that a whole village works together. The fortress does too, right?”

“In a manner of speaking, perhaps.” Weiss relented. Certainly there were plenty of men who were fine tailors, skilled cooks, and hard working fathers that tended to their children within the fortress. However, these men were of lowly stations within the fortress. Servants paid well for their work, and young men hoping to make a name for themselves within military ranks. It was a bloodline tradition or stepping stone for them. "You shall not compare yourself to those within the villages. It is not the same." 

“But if I'm going to be a huntress, then I should know how to do that stuff. It would be fun to learn.”

“I doubt you would think it to be enjoyable.”

“Blake made it fun...”

Weiss paused, peering up at the girl once more. That infuriating name slipped from her lips once again, and Weiss couldn’t fathom why. The girl brought up the mention of the Faunus at every opportunity, seemingly to have taken a liking to her. Weiss wasn’t the type to ponder every tiny detail of Ruby’s upbringing. She didn't bother with the complexities of her young life. She was attentive, but she was no parent. She found this instance odd, strange. Unlike the girl's usual temperament. 

Ruby was fairly shy at times, intimidated by certain gatherings. She didn’t exactly have friends, unless of course one counted Penny as such a thing. There had always been one paramount truth about the girl. She followed Weiss much like a duckling, and she wasn’t very fond of being left to someone else for any length of time. Jaune, Penny and Glynda were occasionally acceptable to the child. Pyrrha was slowly becoming a presence, but the girl insisted upon her keeper most often.

It was strange then, that the Faunus had capture Ruby's curiosity and her soul in such a way. That Ruby refused to allow the Faunus to be forgotten like so many others. It was an odd thing. Foolish to consider and alarming to take seriously. Children were prone to such things, or Weiss had been told by Glynda numerous times. They were naïve that way, mistaking ulterior motives for kindness.

“Ruby, you must realize that there are just certain things that will always be expected of you.” Weiss told her with a soft yet frim tone. No harshness to be found beneath what Weiss considered to be a simple correction in the girl’s ideology. “You have to educate yourself carefully so that one day you may become useful. You must make effort to become like the other women among the royal court. It will be difficult to find you a proper spouse if you are not of fitting intellect. You mother would have wanted you to learn. She was never privileged, and would have wanted better for you.”

“No.” Ruby crinkled her nose, and crossed her arms over her chest with a pout. “I want to join the army and hunt Grimm. I want to go see Blake and eat fish over a fire, and learn to cut carrots, and play in the flowers. I don’t want to study, it’s boring.”

“You are too young to join the army at this time, nor are you educated enough to pass the written tests.” Weiss told her. “You must study if you wish to accomplish your future dreams. You will not go gallivanting around these lands simply because you wish to, and that is final.”

“But no one lets me do anything here!” Ruby blurted out sadly. “No one ever lets me have any fun! Blake’s fun, she plays with me and she’s so smart!”

A long suffering sigh left her lips. “Come here, child.”

Ruby practically flew to her, finding her lap in record time. “Can we go to the army now, please?”

“First you must tell me who has upset you.” Weiss replied. “Who refuses to play with you? They will do so if I command it. I will see to it that you are suitably entertained. I’m sure that person you seek has little time, but I assure you I will find it for them.”

Ruby pounded once more. “Penny has to train, Mr. Ironwood said so.”

Weiss lifted an eyebrow. So she wished to play with Penny? Well, the new huntress had accommodate to her life within the fortress. She likely was very busy, else she would have sought Ruby out by now. Still, it was a situation handled simply. She would merely order Penny to play with Ruby for an afternoon. James couldn't refuse that even if he wished to. “James is strict with his recruits, yet he follows my word. I will take care of that matter…”

“No… Weiss, please don’t.” Ruby said, shaking her head wildly. She knew exactly what taking care of matters meant, and that wasn’t what Ruby really wanted. She grabbed the front of the woman’s ceremonial robes sadly, the white silk fabric crinkling under her grip tightly. It was hard to ask things of Weiss. To get her to do something without making others upset. “You’ll make Penny sad if you scold Mr. Ironwood... I want to visit Blake again.”

Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose. Ruby was usually easily distracted, but her small heart seemed rather set on this. As though nothing could sway her, and not even the grandest gifts would deter her from asking again. Bribery in this would be fruitless. Those big gunmetal eyes watered sadly, and while the appeal to Ruby’s emotions only annoyed her, Weiss hated the crying.

She really hated the crying.

It brought up terrible memories, sleepless nights when as a baby Ruby screamed incessantly. Unhappy to be away from the woman who lay on a deathbed. Weiss had been far younger at the time. A new ruler with a bleeding heart, and unable to deny the request laid in front of her by a dying woman. As Ruby grew older, she began to take on more Summer’s image. Try though she might, Weiss could not erase it.

She couldn’t banish the memory of a dying woman’s sadness, those tears that spilled so freely when she knew she would never see her child grow. Her begging had been desperate, even though it need not be. Protect her, Summer had pled. Keep her away from Salem, no matter that cost. Weiss had long thought she had understood Summer’s request. She thought it a fitting one. There on the deathbed lay one of the strongest assets to the battle against Salem, and Weiss had failed too many people. Her people, that woman, and her baby.

All she could do was say yes.

Now though, she had to wonder. The same burning question stabbing at the back of her mind whenever Ruby was brought to tears. Was this really the wish Summer had for the girl? Was this what that dying mother really wanted? If not, it would be a huge disservice to everything Weiss held dear to her. Those paramount moments of pride shattered by her own ineptitude. Weiss couldn’t even think of it, refused to believe that she would fail so inconceivably again.

So the girl wanted Blake Belladonna as a playmate? Some sort of tutor? A companion? So be it!

“She will be brought to the fortress.” Weiss told Ruby then. Yielding to the question she would never have an answer for. If anything, Weiss knew that Summer would not wish her child to be so distressed. Most certainly not by her own hand, nor those of others within the fortress Ruby called home. “No one from the royal court will go calling on a mere Faunus, but I will send someone to fetch her for you. Until then, you must wait and you must study dutifully. Do you understand?”

“Uh-huh.” Ruby said, drying her eyes. “I’ll study really hard. You’ll see.”

“Then go and read until Glynda comes to collect you.” Weiss said softly. “I have documents to tend to.”


	7. Chapter 7

** Dilectio  
Chapter 7 **

Winter hadn’t been fibbing about her desire to be with Yang. The two of them had a connection, and Winter prided herself in the slow and beautiful way it unfolded between them. She was not above baser desire of course, and she had thought long and hard about taking Yang to bed many times. The younger woman would likely be very eager, she had never denied her advances before. She doubted that Yang would begin to do so now.

Still, it was in moments like these she found herself most content. Laying beneath the sunlit sky gazing idly at the clouds. These were the small pleasures that finery just couldn’t provide. At the fortress the nobles were expected to behave and act in a particular way, and that way always included some level of formality in the public eye. Such social graces were easy to abandon when thy no longer suited her. Winter had chosen a far simpler life for that very reason. Free of her royal station, she could offend whomever she wished.

Winter had no need to explain why Yang was curled against her within the bandit camp. She had no desire to extrapolate the details to those nosy enough to send glances in their direction. There was only one person she needed to concern herself with, and that person hadn't caused a fuss. Raven certainly had sent more than a few annoyed glances, disapproval clear, though she hadn’t spoken of it. That alone would be all the blessing Winter would ever receive in this. Raven would never truly approve.

At least, not until Yang partook the bandit way of life, something she was very keen not to do.

That Yang could enter the camp uninhibited on rare occasion was approval enough given Raven’s strict rules about outsiders. Winter could go to Yang’s side whenever she pleased, so long as it didn't interfere with Raven's plans. The same was not true in reverse. Yang rarely came beyond the doors herself. That she had chosen to do so proved her own desire to be at Winter’s side. The eldest Schnee took great pleasure that perhaps one day Yang might choose this life for herself. It was an insane wish, but some dreams were meant to stay that way. Even if Yang refused for the rest of her life, so long as their bond ran strong it would be enough.

“Ilia likely misses you.” Winter told her grudgingly. “Sun is hardly a fitting companion.”

“She would be jealous that you’ve gotten my attention.” Yang shrugged. “She probably wouldn’t be if you were nicer to her, but you two really don’t get along.”

“She’s shortsighted.”

“Nah, she’s just a kid, and you aren’t that good with them.”

“Point taken.” Winter said stiffly, tucking one hand behind her head. “I don’t see why you keep her with you anyway. You really should have dumped her off with your father when you had the chance.”

“She’s not looking for parents, you know.”

“Yet a person her age should have something akin to one, and you’re certainly not the one to do it. You’ve never tried to be the one to raise her, but due to that I doubt you’ll raise her well.”

“I guess I just don’t think it’s that big of a deal…”

“She gets more troublesome by the day.”

“It was just the way the cards fell, I guess. Can’t really say I had an upbringing, either. I spent most of my life between the village and a bandit camp as a kid. Mom and dad never really saw eye-to-eye, so I had to figure out where I stood on my own. I turned out fine.” Yang said with a shrug. “Besides, I think she’s old enough to figure out where she wants to be for herself. Not really my place to fight with her on that.”

“The way Raven tells it, you weren’t keen to be raised under anyone’s wing anyway. She claims you were a right little terror, and I can honestly say I’d believe it.”

“I wasn’t that bad.”

“I think that depends upon the context. I’ll have you know that not everyone can go traipsing around the woods as a child and come out of that unscathed.”

“Because forcing Ilia to shut up and listen works so well…”

Winter conceded that point wordlessly. She had no metric with which to compare. No one she knew was a fitting comparison, and the children within the bandit camp weren’t raised to be mild mannered youths. They were little hell raisers, all of them. They were raised with blades in hand and foul mouths overlooked. Fights were second nature, encouraged and spectated on by onlookers. Scraped knees weren’t a reason to cry, and roars of Grimm were their lullaby. By sixteen they were beer swilling, foul mouthed young adults. At least, as far as the bandits were concerned. At that age they were left between two choices. Stay in the camp or be peacefully labeled an outsider, like Yang.

Once a bandit always a bandit. Some left only to return, and others were often never seen again.

“I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. You are for more Raven’s ilk than Tai’s.” Winter said, believing that to be true more as the days went on. If Yang were to become a bandit she’d likely become the tribe’s kinder, gentler hand. “She sees that in you, I believe. Perhaps that is the only reason she allows you beyond the gates.”

“You keep saying that, but I really don’t get why...”

“It is in the small things. The subtle ones. There are many ways that shows it to be true, though I suspect you’d never admit it.” Winter replied, because those qualities were attractive to her. It was impossible not to notice them. Yang was beautiful in an untamed sort of way, but that was just the visual appeal. Yang wasn’t docile, not particularly mild mannered when compared to women outside of the bandit camp. She didn’t bow down to anyone without reason, and couldn’t be brought to care of that somehow offended someone. “You have the same ethos when it comes to children. The same tenacity in battle. You act upon your own terms, any complaints be damned.”

“You say that, but I haven’t just crammed a weapon in Ilia’s hand and flung her in front of the first Grimm I’ve come across.”

“Is that what you believe Raven did?”

“Sure as hell seemed like it at the time.”

“Yet you never came to undue harm under her watch.”

“And you don’t think that was pure luck?”

“Raven is not a warm person by nature, I will not pretend she didn’t take risks with you. Likely she did, but I believe they were carefully calculated.”

“Even a best guess is still just a lucky guess.”

“Hmm, I think you prefer to look at Raven and see the bandit that she is.”

“But she is a bandit, Winter. No one can really overlook that.”

“Yes, but that she is your mother comes secondary in your view. I think it allows you to misinterpret the worst in her.” Winter said then, because perhaps that was what Raven had always wanted her daughter to see. “You already had one parent to coddle you. I’m sure Raven didn’t see the need in doing the same. Bandits believe coddling children makes them weak. She wanted to harbor a strength in you. Bandit or not, she still has some sense of pride and honor to live up to. You are her daughter, for what that's worth to you.”

Despite all of the implied cruelty, Winter had never found it completely heartless. It was not particularly unkind. At least no more than her own upbringing had been. She had spent the majority of her life alone in one way or the other. The fortress had been overbearing in more ways than one. As an adult, the wilds had been too inhospitable for her liking. Joining up with the bandits hadn’t been in her plans specifically. She didn’t seek out Raven’s command directly, but Winter couldn’t refute the fact that following Raven suited her own temperament.

“You sure you haven’t just been brainwashed?” Yang asked with a laugh, causing Winter to roll her eyes.

“Unlikely.” Winter murmured. “Possible I suppose, just as anything is. However, I’d say that chance would be incredibly slim.”

Had Yang ever really be intimidated by the wilds? By the Grimm? Winter couldn’t be sure. Then again, why should Yang be afraid, really? As a teenager her training had been top notch. If she’d had any noteworthy blood in her at all, she would have easily been absorbed by someone’s military. Everyone knew Yang was the child of a bandit. That she was Raven’s bloodline promised to keep her safe from even the most idiotic passersby. The villages were mostly peaceful, certainly capitulating to Raven’s whims. Maybe it helped that Raven didn’t have a habit of harassing them needlessly, but Yang was certainly a key component to the peaceful relations, even if the younger woman didn’t realize it.

After all, despite Raven’s vitriol when it came to Yang’s disobedience, one thing had been made abundantly clear to every village in the area. Turning on Yang promised Raven would find them and kill them. Not that it was ever a threat that would come to pass, the villages loved Yang. She was just that sort of person. Yang didn’t need protecting, but Winter couldn’t deny her own possessive whims either. Perhaps it was her entitled upbringing that made her feel that way, or the years within the confines of the camp that had gotten to her.

Either way, she didn’t question her need to keep Yang to herself. It was just an intractable part of her nature. For all she knew it was as much a conditioned response as it was foregone birthright.

Winter frowned deeply, disliking the way Yang extracted herself from her cuddled positon. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“To hunt for some food.” Yang shrugged. “I’m not going to make Sun take care of her two days in a row.”

“I suppose a rabbit wouldn’t be an ample bribe?” Winter asked then. “I have one entitled to me from the warren.”

“Throw in some vegetables for a stew, and I might lay back down with you.” Yang grinned.

“That would be impossible.” Winter frowned. “An apple or two perhaps, maybe some grapes. That’s the best I can offer.”

“Nope, no deal.” Yang said stretching until she felt a small pop in her back, sighing in relief. “Need more food than that.”

“If you insist…”

“Kind of do, yeah.” Yang said as she looked down at her girlfriend. “Are you going to lay there all day sulking, or do you want to come with me?”

“When have you ever known me to decline an invitation from a beautiful woman?” Winter asked as she also began to collect herself.

* * *

Sun hummed to himself happily as he shoved a few berries into his mouth. A few more Grimm slain and crossing paths with Blake made his day. He was all too happy to walk beside her as they made their way back to the bandit camp. They rarely had time to themselves, but he wasn’t about to squander the opportunity. With more pep in his step than he would have otherwise, he allowed himself to enjoy the pleasure of her company and simple conversation. Still, he couldn’t keep his tail from swaying contently nor could he ignore the serene gaze Blake had as they moved through the woods.

Her time away from the group always made him long for her. He would be lying if he didn’t admit that to himself. Blake wasn’t just a comrade or a friend, he liked to think of her as something more. Nothing agitated him more than knowing he would spend another night alone to his thoughts, and that he would have no one to share them with. In a few subtle ways, Blake was a kindred spirit. He had hoped she may take notice of him. Liked to think maybe she was beginning to.

He had been dropping subtle clues, and her response to them had never been truly negative in reply. She would blush at his flirtations and smile his way, and in this he thought perhaps he stood a small chance. He knew she had ambitions, though. He wanted to reach them with her, but he wondered if she felt the same. He yawned lazily as he put his hands behind his head, looking up at the birds in the trees and wondering when would be the right time.

Or, in Blake’s case, if there ever would be.

“You know, Blake I’ve been thinking. Perhaps I should begin going with you to Belladonna tribal lands.”

“I’d rather you didn’t. It isn’t as if there’s anything for you there.”

“We can rebuild it.” Sun said. “Reclaim it all over again. It’s yours, you know.”

“There’s no point to rebuild it until Salem is defeated.” Blake told him. “I won’t be able to rest until I do.”

“So you say, but I think maybe it’s time to think of other things.”

“It isn’t that I don’t think of them, it’s that it isn’t the right time.”

“You shouldn’t have to face your burdens alone, Blake.”

“But, they are my burdens to bear, and I have decided I will defeat Salem first.”

Sun sighed then, reaching his hand out slightly, brushing fingertips with hers. She hadn’t pulled away but her demeanor changed. If it was good or bad, he couldn’t rightly tell. She showed no sign of true discontentment, only guarded curiosity. He took her hand in his then, squeezing gently. He hoped it was reassuring. “If you’d like, maybe we could spend the evening away from the camp? We won’t be missed for a single night. Winter would probably be happy to have Yang to herself again.”

“Only that Ilia would be there, and it would dampen Winter’s spirits to have to contend with that girl for long.”

“Blake, please.” He said, pulling her to his side. “You worry so much for everyone else, and never for yourself. In a way that’s a beautiful thing, but what can I say? I’m a selfish guy sometimes. I’d like to spend more time with you.”

“Please don’t do this.” Blake said pulling away from him, separating her hand from his as carefully as she could. He meant well, she knew that. She simply couldn’t give him what he wanted, and until Salem was dead and gone, she never would.

“Blake?”

Blake could only smile at him sadly. Her voice was tight, nearly raspy as she forced herself to lay the cold hard truth in front of him. Also, to lay it down for herself. “Don’t you see? I could never be right for you. You want a nice young woman who will go to your bed every night, someone to give you children and warm your home. I could never be that person for you. Don’t wait for me, Sun. You’re only going to get hurt.”

“I am willing to wait.” He said quietly. “I will wait, you know that.”

“You may end up waiting forever.” Blake told him. “I can’t allow you to do that. Please don’t pursue me anymore, Sun. It won’t happen, it can’t.”

“I’m sorry, Blake.” He said tightly. “It won’t happen again.”

With her jaw clenched tightly she forged ahead. She wanted to believe it was for the best. That he wouldn’t be too hurt, and that he would move on from the vain hope that she may one day give him the children he so desperately wanted. His place was in a village surrounded by family. A warm and loving home she simply couldn’t provide.

* * *

Glynda marched through the halls with a curious expression on her features. A royal gathering of the lady nobles that had just finished its proceedings. It was primarily a social call, the likes of which Weiss never attended. Their esteemed ruler saw little need in making an appearance for gossip or mindless banter. She would show on rare occasions when she would be needed, but with a kingdom to run she usually attended the gatherings intended for the noble lords that presided over the lands and saw to the people.

It was the plight of any woman who stood at such a high station, Glynda presumed. Noblewomen were expected to plan events and parties, not to decide law and enact it. That was left for those educated in the realms of political complexities, and most noblewomen were educated in the finer things life provided. They had no need for the complicated math that built waterways and aqueducts, or the sciences required to make medicinal and technological advancement possible. Some women dipped their toes in, sure enough, but it was men that saw to the hard manual labor and gained the firsthand experience.

Weiss was an outlier, a rarity, and it would be impossible to think otherwise.

That Weiss would think to call upon her now felt rather abrupt. It was never a good idea to upset the greatest lady of the Schnee lands. Glynda tried to think of an occurrence that could have displeased the woman. She thought hard, but found little to take notice of. Ruby got into trouble often, but that was rarely ever the cause of a private audience. There were murmurs of a Faunus that had recently been a constant annoyance, but Glynda had not personally confirmed that little detail. She had no idea what could possibly cause this call to come. Even so, being called so directly into the private chambers of her ruler was never a particularly warm and welcoming experience to say the least.

She had taken the time to dress herself in her finest ceremonial robe for the occasion. Replacing the elegant purple gown she had worn to the court gathering for something more suited to decorum. The white linen with the snowflake crest were given only to those of respected standing. A mark of her status within the house as royalty regarded by the Schnee bloodline itself. Unlike the fine silks of the highest nobles, the linen was of lesser prestige. Even so, it was a high honor for her to wear it, and wear it proudly she did.

Glynda was no young and tittering noble. She was of middle age, and middling standing among the upper class. Her blonde hair had been far more vibrant in her younger days, but grey was few and far between. She kept it in a tight bun when in her ceremonial robes, and often so with her finest dresses as well. She carried herself with poise and grace, some saying it was only her birthrights that held her back from incredibly high status.

Glynda commanded true respect due to these qualities, her charm and wit at court standing with the best of them. It was her intellect and stringent procedures that made her so highly prized among the lesser nobles. She stood happily in service to Weiss Schnee, and she took to that duty with an undying assuredness in her own skill. That was precisely why despite the fact that most would be intimidated by their ruler, Glynda Goodwitch was not.

“My lady, you called for me, and so I have come.” Glynda said as she announced herself, closing the door behind her. A small bow indicated her respect to authority. “I do hope all is well.”

“All is as expected.” Weiss replied then, not desiring to move to greet the woman the way she would someone of equal importance. Those socially inferior and members of the fortress simply didn’t require the time of day.

“I see, that is fine then. So long as that rings true.” Glynda said, not minding that most would never be able to talk so out of turn. She and Weiss had a firm understanding. The two of them motivated by crisp and clean discussions, the sort that required no tip-toing about. It was not needed, and furthermore it was a blight to accomplishment. “Might I ask as to why you demanded me to stand before you?”

“There is a matter that needs to be seen to. Ruby has requested a visitor to come. I will need you to handle to the details. This of course includes suitable supplies and proper lodgings for a woman unused to finery.”

“Of course, shall I send someone to send for the visitor?”

“No, I have seen to that. I've doled out the task to Penny. For your part, you only need to oversee living arrangements. On that note, you should place this visitor in my personal wing.”

“That seems an odd request…”

“Is that so?”

Glynda had to admit, Weiss seemed a bit more unhappy than usual. She cleared her throat, only slightly tilting her head as if to concede the point. "It is not common for you, my lady."

“Granted. It is not. However, I would not have Ruby wandering the wings of the fortress where she does not belong.” Weiss replied simply. Furthermore she did not completely trust Blake Belladonna to keep her wits about her. That was a matter she kept to herself. She wouldn't air it, seeing no point to. "The room should be near to Ruby's and my own. Far enough for privacy, but not placed away at length."

“Indeed, I will arrange a room for our most honored guest.”

“There is another detail, one that requires careful management.” Weiss said, folding her hands upon her desk. Her work resting beneath them. “This woman not human. She is a Faunus, furthermore she is a huntress. No harm or slight shall come to her, and I would like that firmly understood. If such a slight were to come, I would not act gently in my reprimand. Surely you can fathom the nature of the order?”

“A visitor of the highest esteem will be treated as such, I would never allow an insult to be made.”

“I think you misunderstand me. She is no noble, Glynda. She has no particular esteem, yet she will be a guest regardless. I expect trouble, perhaps disputes. Frankly, I find that for all of her intellect, she knows nothing of her place in this world. I suspect insult will come because she will be the first to cast it." Weiss said with a slow and meaningful loftiness. "This is why it is paramount you make my demands in utmost clarity.”

“Certainly.” Glynda said, concealing her amusement. She doubted Weiss would take it too kindly. Still, the rumors seemed to be true. There was a Faunus making trouble, and it was a Faunus that had not yet been slain for her oversights. The Schnee line was known for their storied hatred of the Faunus, but Weiss and Winter had been known to be less cruel. Even so, to bring one to the fortress was unheard of. Once word began to spread, no small amount of speculation would bloom because of it. Many would think Weiss had lost her mind, though if they were wise they'd never speak of it. "I will assign the finest to see after her care."

"That would be satisfactory." Weiss replied, though she was no halfwit. "I would like to offer a token for the inconvenience."

"There is none to be concerned of, my lady." Glynda said. She didn’t have such a distinct hatred of Faunus. She'd been given no reason to hate them, or look down upon them with disgust. She’d known many Faunus in her life. Most of them she had gotten along well with. “If that is all, I will see to the preparations.”

“There is one more thing…” Weiss said, hesitating a moment as she trailed off.

"Oh?"

“Yes..." Weiss murmured. "It concerns dynastic matters. I have decided it is time for me to consider a spouse. I will make my choice at the next gathering of the kingdoms for the moon viewing. All eligible ladies of the fortress are to be assembled and prepared in case they are to be chosen. I would make my decision that night, as all Schnee have done for generations.”

Hearing the news, Glynda smiled earnestly. “It seems this year’s moon viewing will be a most auspicious night indeed. Many of us have long awaited the day you’d formally announce a union.”

“Which is precisely why you must use discretion. The ladies of my court are to be informed of the matter delicately, I have not yet decided upon my chosen lady. I must meet with my advisors before I’ve made my final decision and it would cause great upset if the proceedings weren’t done properly.”

“You have no need fear that, I will oversee that matter personally, along with all of the planning for the moon viewing. It will be a wondrous event, I assure you.”

“That will be all then.”

* * *

“Are you sure you’re feeling okay?” Yang asked, glancing over to Ilia for the umpteenth time that day as she messily sewed a button back onto one of the girl’s shirts.

“I’m fine.”

“If you’re fine, why are you all red?” Yang asked dubiously, because the Faunus girl had no control of her markings. The small blemishes upon her skin turning a dark red.

“I don’t know, I just am.”

Yang wanted to believe that, but her gut told her this was all wrong. Sun had warned her that the youth hadn’t seemed to be feeling well. That he could smell something. It was just a twinge, but something was in the air. Yang’s initial plans to search for food shifted drastically when she chose to stay behind. The girl rarely became ill, but life on the road wasn’t an easy one. It was tough on the body and the mind. Illness had to be treated quickly before it twisted and turned out of hand. Even a small fever promised looming threats, and Yang had been practically pouring herbal tea down the girl’s throat all morning to ward away whatever this happened to be.

She lifted a hand to the girl’s forehead, ilia pulling away as Yang forced her still. Her palm finding a heat she didn’t much like. “You feel warmer than you did before.”

“I’m fine, Yang.” Ilia complained, giving the blonde a little shove. “It’s just a cold. I get them sometimes.”

“Oh yeah?” Yang grumbled. “Then why don’t I hear any sniffles?”

“Because not all colds make your nose stuffed up, you know that.”

“You’re not coughing either.”

“So? It must mean I’m not that sick.”

“There are a lot of reasons for a fever that aren’t a cold…”

“It’s not anything like that. I don’t even feel bad.”

Yang knew that was a lie too. Ilia had a certain listlessness about her. A tired expression in her eyes that didn’t come from sleepiness. Fevers caused aches and pains, and could become trouble when not quickly managed. Common colds were a minor threat considering the other problems a huntress could face. Yang had been taught a great deal about medicinal herbs and wild remedies, but her knowledge was limited compared to Raven and the other bandits. They knew more about boiled tonics and tinctures than most of the local villages. A large collection of pilfered medical texts and rare supplies giving them a unique edge against illness.

They knew more than the average wise woman or village born hunter. Another small reason for the uneasy peace between the villages and Raven’s fold. It was common for villages to attempt to buy those rare cure-alls at exorbitant prices. Desperate people turning to them when so little else proved to heal. Unlike a wise-woman though, Yang no idea what to do with those rare remedies. It took countless years to study more than the most basic of herbal lore and medicinal use. If she appealed to Raven, she would need more help than mere supplies.

Yet, Ilia would not be allowed into the medical tents without a proper payment or something in return. The bandits never gave their precious supplies freely. Yang knew she would always be able to reap the rewards of having Raven around, those same luxuries didn’t extend to Ilia. Wouldn’t unless Yang handed her over to Raven to be raised as part of the bandit tribe. Her father’s village was several miles away, the journey on foot wouldn’t be a quick one. Moving her so far away now might just make matters worse.

Unhappily Yang continued to steep more tea, hoping her own knowledge would be enough.


	8. Chapter 8

** Dilectio  
Chapter 8 **

Weiss had no intention to make her way to the northbound territory. She would not spare time to view the child soon to come. She rarely visited her brother, writing letters often enough for her liking and leaving it at that. Sadly, written missives traveled slowly. With the usual rumors flying around wildly, it made sense that her foul mood loomed over the fortress. Announcing such a long awaited child brought grave difficulties to any who cared to protect it. As the child neared being born, that danger grew incalculably.

Weiss sighed as gazed out at from a dew laden window. She held no particular love for Whitley, his wife, or his unborn child. However, to place threats on her bloodline was an insult to her. She had thought that such a thing would have been obvious. That no one would dare to think it. Her thoughts seemed to be proven false.

“My lady, what would you have me do?” James asked gently, prying too insistently was never a welcome occurrence. Yet, he required orders. They could only come from her.

“The disturbances you speak of, what are they?” Weiss asked him with bite that would chill lesser men to the bone. “Is it Grimm, bandits, or other foe?”

“That is unclear, my lady.”

“If you had to presume the threat?”

“I wouldn’t even begin to-”

“You wouldn’t presume, yet I have asked you to.” Weiss demanded coolly, cutting him of. “So you shall presume the nature of this threat, and you shall do it at length. What manner of man or beast threatens to tromp through my borders simply to head to the north?”

“The disruptions are carefully constructed, my lady. They are not the sort that blindly terrorize the outlying villages, nor the type to imply needless destruction.” At that, James Ironwood found himself taking a breath and gritting his teeth. “It is not the first time that Cinder Fall has made attempts to edge into the lands before. She is of particularly vile personality, notably brash, but far from dimwitted. I would presume then, to think that she has a newfound desire of immeasurable power.”

“I did not think the Fall’s were of any particular import.” Weiss noted thoughtfully. “Father certainly didn’t seem to think so.”

“In fairness to him, the Fall’s were not of import when they left our uneasy alliances some years ago. They were lesser than many of noble class, but they had always desired the more fertile and forgiving lands. They saw the refusal as an unforgivable oversight. Cinder Fall is not the same as those before her. I feel that she may find this the perfect time to make an attempt on Schnee lands. Our forces are weaker due to Salem, and our borders are not nearly as protected as they once were.”

“Yes, well, we both know the reason for that.” Weiss said unflinchingly, feeling little more than repressed ire at that simple fact. Her sister had always been the better tactician. The one most suited for a throne she didn’t wish to have. If she had stayed within the confines of the fortress, perhaps her knowledge would have proven useful. As it was, Weiss stood alone. “Who sends this information? Is it of unquestioned loyalty?”

“Lie Ren brings the report personally.” James replied softly. His words a mere whisper. Daring to do anything else unsettled him greatly. “He requested to seek a personal audience with you, my lady. Rare as it may be that you would accept it.”

Rare, perhaps. Yet not impossible, nor completely unheard of. Weiss understood that lesser warriors were some of the most valued in the ranks. With ears low to the ground and a status to match it, they were usually the first to overhear rumors of impending danger. Usually the rumors were unfounded or inconsequential, but this rumor proved otherwise.

“He wishes to speak personally?” Weiss questioned, that fact in itself pouring more weight atop the claim. If the man was disingenuous even slightly, his life would be no more. That he willingly risked that promised his honesty. “Bring him to me.”

James fled swiftly to do strictly that. Returning to the room once more only when Lie Ren had been located training among other fine huntsman. He was a fairly placid young man, a fine specimen of what a proper village upbringing could produce. The son of one such guard, not yet decorated in the highest honors but certainly on his way to being so. James had thought the young man tenacious in his own way. Slyly distinguishing himself with soft word and honorable hand, lesser nobles looked upon him as a possible suitor for their daughters.

Ren kindly declined every time, but James found himself amused by the poise and determination that Ren clung to. He was perhaps the ideal huntsman, bound to his trade by personal interest. He was not merely a young man following his father’s footsteps. He didn't carry the title simply by being expected to. For him it was something more.

“My lady, what an honor.” Ren said, bowing deeply to her, waiting for a formal invitation to address her further.

“I was informed you have a report to make.” Weiss said, turning to look at him. The first time her gaze had strayed from the window at all since her thoughts had begun to twist and turn.

“I was visiting my father when I came across a questionable group. At first I thought little of it. Then I began to hear something strange. Humans and Faunus of like mind speaking ill of yourself and the Schnee bloodline. I could only conclude from there that this was no simple meeting of villages within your lands. To be honest, I don’t think they were from around these parts at all.”

“You said you’ve overheard them.” Weiss noted, lips thinning tightly against a carefully protected fury. “What exactly did you overhear?”

“I feared getting close, and I do not have the delicate haring of the Faunus. The key points slipped by, though one thing was made clear to me. Gathering generals from the inhospitable lands have decided they wish to…” Ren hesitated, his words halted by their own magnitude. What he was about to suggest would be pure blasphemy at best, a direct insult to Weiss Schnee of all people at worst. There was no greater danger than what he’d heard, but his lady was not a woman to be trifled with. “It sounded as if they wish to cull the blood that rules these lands, namely your own and that of any other Schnee.”

“I see..." Weiss replied, glancing down at her desk and the letters that rested there. "Word has likely reached them about the impending child. My little brother is short sighted that way. He should have kept the news to a trusted few for as long as time would allow. They know the lands will be weaker for the announcement. Too many to celebrate recklessly instead of acting with due decorum.” Weiss murmured, her eyes affixing onto James with a question. “What is the gravity of this threat?”

“That would entirely depends on the amount of lesser nobles and their respective armies involved, my lady.” James began, having no idea of their number. There was no way to fathom such a thing. “Due to Salem’s attacks the lands outside of the greatest control are rather inhospitable. Atop that complicated issue, there are only four who possess a relic. Those alliances run deep, my lady. I’m sure others have felt that we of higher station have forsaken them. Frankly, I’ve long concluded that this was only a matter of time.”

Weiss agreed, though she didn’t speak it. The lands outside of her power and influence had thoroughly darkened by Salem’s wrath. Small minded nobles failed to see their place in the vastness of the world. They were often the ones who equally failed their people. They could not provide sanctuary, safety, or security to their villages. Neither in prosperity, nor in bloodline. Historical war was a cruel mistress, and those with the relics held a substantial power that greatly aided their conquests in land and in deed.

While these four relics weren’t the answer to every prayer, they certain granted immense authority. In the hands of a competent ruler able to utilize a relic to its utmost potential, it wouldn’t be a question of who would stand above all others. The relic of creation was a wordless guarantee that the lands would remain fertile, that progeny would be fruitful, and that godlike whims could be achieved in small and manageable ways.

No relic could be used with an iron fist and brainless desire. None of them could be used brazenly. Relics could be as much of a gift as they were a curse. The relic of creation was no different. It held evil within, particularly when mishandled. There were rules of nature that could not be tamed, and while a relic could call upon those truths, containing them was quite another matter. A simple desire for a gentle rain could be misconstrued as a monsoon, washing away everything. A thought for warmth from sunlight could cause a drought. Even life itself could be twisted by the relic.

A person could even be brought back to life, but what might return could be a monster. Weiss had seen such a grievous backfire of power once before. It was a lesson she could never forget. To create anything, one had to risk complete and total destruction of equal measure. That was the weight of creation’s relic. All of the relics carried such a difficult burden. The only person who could use a relic with no fear of its recoil, was that of the relic's chosen maiden. Due to that immeasurable power, maidens were kept well away from the relics. Called upon only when the darkest of times demanded their skill.

It was no mere trinket to wave around idly. It was a precious tool to be used with careful consideration. Lesser nobles were lesser for simply that reason. They had no intention of understanding that.

“Le Ren, you will see to this group. You will watch their movements, reporting to General Ironwood the moment you catch word of anything.” Weiss demanded, though her voice was not cruel in tone or pitch. “James you shall keep me appraised accordingly. Take appropriate action to prepare for war should it break out. If these simple minded fools need to be educated on just who they’ve happened to offend, so be it.”

* * *

Ilia’s fever began to worsen. It grew to the point of being completely intolerable for the girl who sweat bullets, tossing and turning in delirium. Raven looked at the girl with a darkened expression. There was little she could do once a soul was poisoned by the influence of Grimm. They’d die, it wasn’t something she could cure with herbs. After three medicines had failed to bring down the fever, and two more seemed to worsen it, Raven had concluded trying anything more would be a waste. She didn’t say a word to Yang about the girl’s fate. Her daughter wouldn’t have accepted it, but the writing was on the wall.

Raven knew this illness well, had seen it countless times. Weak aura could not protect against the Grimm as well as a robust one, and this was the risk that came with being a slayer of the foul creatures. It wasn’t well understood, and there were no curatives that Raven knew of.

Winter stood by with a frown on her expression. She had seen this illness as well. There was a single way that she knew of to contend with it, but it was impossible as she was. A mere bandit would never have access to the relic of creation, and even if she did, there was no certainty that it would work. Offering Yang false hope wasn’t something she was apt to do, so she stood quietly, her hand bracing upon the hilt of her sword. Eyeing the girl with an intensity.

She certainly wasn’t fond of the girl, but she had never wished her death.

As a placebo and perhaps misplaced insanity, they had called upon a wise-woman from within the villages. A personal friend of Winter’s that had long served the peoples. She was another fortress outcast, her face wrapped in bandages where eyes used to be. She was unseeing now, but not inept. She continued to grind herbs, but these ones were not to ease the fever. She could do nothing for that. She could merely ease the aches and pains that came along with them.

“Are you sure this isn’t some kind of Faunus illness?” Yang asked, fully releasing all of the healers among them were human.

Blake was the first to shake her head. “We do have some that are rare, but none quite like this.”

“If it was, Blake and I would probably be able to smell something like that. There’s signs to that kind of thing. Usually there’s a bit of a warning.” Sun said as he worked to fan the flames for the cooking pot. “This doesn’t smell right. It doesn’t reek of a cold or a flu, and none of the Faunus illnesses I know of attack aura directly…”

“Conjecture gets you nowhere. Faunus and humans aren't that removed from one another.” Raven told them, recalling her own careful study of the subject. “From my readings, there aren’t many illnesses that are reserved only for Faunus. Most of the ones that are tend to be sensory, short term. They're brought on by influential factors such as toxins, changing seasons, or uncontrolled climate that directly inhibits the species that Faunus hails from."

"Is that what's wrong now?" Yang asked.

"It really depends on the Faunus, Yang." Blake said softly, she wasn't sure. If it was, it was the worst she had ever seen. "Certain Faunus have difficulty regulating their body's temperature when ill. That could be why Ilia's having so much trouble with the fever. She's got the traits of a chameleon, it's not impossible that she got exposed to something that's making her body go haywire..."

"This fever isn't normal. It's not responding well to any herbs, and shows no sign of leaving. Her aura's being attacked directly." Raven said then. "Some Faunus illnesses can be crippling on occasion, but they don’t tend to be lethal. None of them I know of attack aura directly. They weaken it, sure but hers is just gone. Plus, this fever is way too high.”

“But we don’t know everything about the world, either. New discoveries are made every day.” The elderly woman said with a shrug. With bony fingers, she squeezed some of the herbs in her fingers. “The medicine is ready to steep.”

“Go gather purified water from the cooking tent.” Raven said, practically forcing the bucket into Yang's hands.

“But what about-”

“Go.” Winter replied quietly. “You’ll do no use just standing there, Yang.”

“Right.” Yang bit out snappishly, fear for Ilia was keeping her from the ruthless logic that Winter and Raven both prided themselves on. This was no time to be pacing mindlessly. A job was a job, no matter how small. The freshest water would make the cleanest tea. Yang clung to that when so little else made sense to her.

* * *

Penny was rather excited to be issued her first mission.

It was a simple task. She was merely to locate a particular Faunus intended to be an honored guest and escort her to the fortress. It wouldn’t be difficult mission. With a small hand full of days on the road already, she felt that she was getting close. She couldn’t imagine why she had been personally selected, but she would do her best to complete it. She would find the woman in question loitering outside of a bandit camp, or so she had been told.

She had been warned that these bandits had a profound temper when provoked, and didn’t take kindly to disruption. She was not to draw upon combat prowess to see the matter done. The bandits were known to cause trouble once agitated. Penny didn’t understand the complex nature of the bandit tribe, and had no reason to question the order passed down to her. She was still new to these lands and their inhabitants. Assuming that she was just as well versed in the ways of bandits, it wouldn't have rightly mattered. Weiss Schnee was not the sort of ruler you disobeyed.

She ruled in fairness, but Penny understood that those tides could change swiftly. Starting a fight was not her priority, only retrieving the Faunus peacefully.

She knew she was in the bandit territory when she passed a small collection of sheep and man sleeping beneath a tree. Chickens roamed freely, and pigs rolled amongst the mud. The dirt path was less flat, the uneasy ground making it near impossible for wagons to pass by this way. There was likely a hidden path nearby, but Penny saw no need to search for it as she continued on beyond more farmlands and a small hut that reeked of booze. Eventually, she found the Faunus that had been described to her.

As Penny has been told, she lingered outside the bandit camp with dark catlike ears atop her head and molten amber eyes. Licking her lips she stepped forward and kindly introduced herself to the group that collected outside of the main camp's walls. “Excuse me, I happen to be in search of Blake Belladonna. Would you be her?”

“More importantly, who the hell are you?” Raven asked accusatorily. “Where did you come from?”

“That should be obvious, look at her clothes.” Winter replied offhandedly. "She's a fortress huntress. Even a dimwit would notice that."

“Point taken.” Raven grumbled. “You know of her?”

“Vaguely, but it has been years now.” Winter reported. “She’s the niece of James Ironwood. Her name escapes me, but her face is roughly the same. Though she has aged. She’s harmless, Raven. Trust me on that.”

“I am sorry, however it was made clear to me that I should only seek out one person.” Penny said, folding her hands in front of her. Though she knew of Winter, she had never built a bond with her. The fortress often spoke in disgust of the woman. Weiss didn't tend to speak poorly of her elder sibling, but she never spoke with fondness either. Then again, Weiss rarely spoke fondly about anything, so it was hardly a surprise. Penny placed it aside because she had been warned not to bring up the bad blood that resided between Winter and the nobles she turned her back upon.

She was only to address Blake, and no one else. “I am in search of a Blake Belladonna. If she is not here, I must continue to search for her.”

“Blake?” Winter asked with a sigh as her gaze drifted to Blake. “What does my sister want with you?”

“I’d wager nothing good, I’ll say that much.” Raven said, rolling her eyes.

“Oh, who knows? We’ve crossed paths more than I want to admit recently…” Blake said as she stood up. “I am Blake Belladonna. What do you want? We’re a little busy.”

“Oh so I have found you. Splendid!” Penny said with a smile. “I was worried I might be in the wrong place. You may call me Penny. It is an honor to meet you. I would have to ask that you come with me. Lady Schnee has requested the honor of your presence at the fortress.”

"Sounds like bullshit to me." Raven groused.

"It is true." Penny replied, not deviating from her address of Blake alone. "You are to be a very honored guest."

“Somehow I doubt that.” Blake said with an upraised eyebrow. “I’ll have to decline.”

“I’m afraid I cannot accept that reply.” Penny said softly, disheartened. “You must come with me, it is very important.”

“One of my comrades is very sick. Her recovery is more important than whatever you have planned for me.” Blake told her. “I cannot leave right now. Even if I could, you’re talking about taking me to the fortress and I’m not doing that either.”

“It is unwise to turn me away.” Penny warned slowly, her own concern edging into her eyes. “I must ask that you come.”

“I told you, I’m not going.”

“I ask that you do.” Penny said, still pressing, still hoping to sway the woman. “Lady Schnee does not make idle requests. It would be very impolite to refuse her.”

“You’ve received your answer.” Winter cut in, fully realizing the girl was only following an order. She couldn't understand why her sister would be so interested in speaking to the Faunus, but understanding that wasn't a luxury Winter would have. Like it or not, they were now no more than tenuous allies at best, and flat out enemies at worst. “We do not capitulate to the likes of Weiss Schnee, no matter her station. If Weiss wants to speak with Blake, she may do it here. You may tell her that. Now take you’re leave. Do it quickly, before you’re perceived as a threat.”

It was at that moment that Yang stepped out from camp. “Okay the tent out back is ready, I was told we could move Ilia there now.”

“Sun take Ilia to the tent.” Raven told him. “You may cut through the entry of the camp. Winter escort him. I will deal with our visitor.”

Winter nodded as Sun gathered Ilia in his arms. He was gentle about it as he passed through the gates. Yang held the massive door open, waiting for Blake to follow, but she still lingered. “Blake, are you coming?”

“I’ll be there in just a sec.”

“The visitor is hers.” Raven told Yang, though her eyes didn’t leave Penny. Instead, she gripped the hilt of her sword with clear annoyance. “I will escort Blake to the tent personally once her business is finished.”

“Oh shit, there’s not another Grimm attack, is there?” Yang wondered.

Blake couldn't help but offer a small smile at Yang's concern. She cared deeply for Ilia, but she cared for others too. She would never want to hear of harm coming to others, even if she wouldn't be able to be of help. At least this was one instance where Yang didn't have to worry. Blake took a comfort that she wouldn't have to burden Yang further with bad news. “Don’t worry about it, Yang. She is just someone who came by to ask me something. Don’t wait up.”

"You sure?"

"It's fine, Ilia needs you." Blake said, shooing her off. “I’ll be there soon.”

“Got it.” Yang said nodding and closing the massive door behind her.

Blake grit her teeth and cursed under her breath.

“Penny? That was your name, right?” Blake asked, but she didn’t wait for an answer. “As you can see, I don’t have time to go to the fortress right now. Faunus aren’t allowed at the fortress, at least none that I know of. I can’t go there anyway.”

“Lady Schnee has chosen to overlook that.” Penny told her. “Please, I beg of you to gather you belongings and join me. I would not like to make a bad report. If I had to explain that you were otherwise busy, that would be upsetting. If I told her that you have declined, it would be an insult to her invitation. You would be a guest, not a prisoner.”

“I’m not going.” Blake said harshly. “That’s final.”

* * *

Penny reported back to the fortress empty handed, the several day journey fruitless and impossible. Her report was that of a failing she couldn’t ignore, and Penny felt guilty as she knelt down in shame.

How could she become a huntress if she couldn’t sway the people? If she couldn’t act with their best interests in mind, what good could she possibly do? Weiss was a mysterious woman, but she had never once betrayed the whims of those who most needed her. Penny had always wanted to aid in that never ending endeavor. To become a person worthy of such respect. The fortress looked to her with respect because she was the niece of General James Ironwood. Few could stand at his respected station, and those that tried to force themselves into such a place were cut down mercilessly.

She wanted to be respected on her own terms, her own efforts. This failing was a step backward. It should have been so easy.

"Why did she decline?" Weiss asked evenly, though it was very clear to Penny that the lady of the lands was greatly displeased.

“She refused to do the illness of a comrade, my lady."

"That is unsatisfactory, not to mention disdainful. She turned her back upon me and this fortress, sending you away with absolutely no intention of following. It is not something I can easily forgive."

“I doubt she would have come with me willingly. It felt almost like an excuse.”

“In that we agree. You may stand.” Weiss commanded, because she knew this was a task that had been difficult from the start. The Faunus woman was defiant in every manner possible. “This failing is through no fault of your own. There’s no reason to grovel before me like a peasant.”

“I seem to have done a great disservice. My lady, I had been hoping to make you proud.” Penny murmured, standing despite wanting to do no more than be absorbed by the floor.

“You may be at ease with the knowledge that we’ve lost nothing from this attempt. The bandits are vitriolic, and though Raven is more perceptive than most, even she is not exempt from bandit law.” Weiss told her, reminding herself that Penny was still a young noble. Raised to be a woman first and a huntress secondarily. Penny had ambitions far greater than a mere huntress or noble lady of the courts. Her training in societal matters was just beginning, but failings were a direct and important evil to face. “You must understand you’ve followed my orders to the letter, and so this failing is my burden to bear, not yours.”

“Ruby will be so disappointed.” Penny said sadly, and in truth that was another reason to punish herself. “How could I possibly tell her that I wasn’t able to bring her guest? She seemed so excited when she told me.”

“You will not speak a word of it.” Weiss replied softly. “She will not be disappointed in anyone, least of all yourself. I made a promise, and that promise must be kept. That I gave my word to a child is of little noteworthiness. I don’t sully my promises to anyone deserving of them.” Weiss replied, knowing that Penny would grieve this failing far more deeply than the average huntress of nobility. This was a personal matter for the young woman. No lecture Weiss could give would do Penny better than the guilt she hoisted onto herself. "You have no blame in this."

Penny couldn’t help but believe she was being protected. She didn’t deserve that. She couldn’t go against the word of Weiss Schnee, but to agree that she had no fault was impossible too. “But it was my fault, my lady.”

Weiss knew the pangs of a bleeding soul. Understood that Penny would need to place this failing aside in her own way. “I sent you because you would be sure to maintain the peaceful negotiations I demanded of you. That was far more important to me than instant success. You will come to find that most battles are not won by the sword, but rather by spoken word. I will think on this and come to a solution. Take your leave and return to your uncle.”

Left to consider her options, Weiss found herself regarding a more direct approach. She hadn’t been interested enough to involve herself in the matter, but it seemed she had no choice.

It was insulting to have to deal with a person so disinclined to listen. When a man disobeyed her, she at least understood it came from an endowed and foolish sense of pride. Men were not often expected to take orders from a woman. They were not easily raised to believe such things, and the world itself didn’t take kindly to weakness in any form. Women were by most definitions were weaker in every aspect of authority, and so few aimed to mold themselves to the standards required to hold such immense power.

Those that could mold themselves in such a way often chose not to. They saw little need to change their place within the world. Those that couldn’t mold themselves simply lacked the greater luxuries. With birthrights lost to them and unable to receive the finest education, those women could do little more than subvert expected social norms. There was power in that too, freedom perhaps, but it was far lesser than a well-educated noble.

Weiss considered that with a gritty dislike for the principle. She had been aiming to change that, but change was always slow to take to the public. For all of her own knowledge, she was not omnipotent. Requiring advisors just like any noble lord of equal standing. She had often tasked those efforts to men more often than not. There were just too few women up to the task as of yet.

This new generation would see that fixed, or so be damned her every effort.

That was why the insult was even more pronounced when it was a woman that disobeyed her. That she would not see the opportunities presented to these lands strictly because Weiss was a woman. Born and raised to be one, to understand plights of women. Facts that the bylaws of men wouldn’t inherently solve or begin to understand. It was baffling that her power be denied in the worst possible way. Perhaps Faunus were simply raised to be more barbaric in nature, but Weiss couldn’t be sure. She couldn’t even claim to have a normal upbringing among humanity, let alone Faunus.

Therefore, she was sure of one thing, and only one thing…

It was fitting then that she go and fetch Blake herself, not allowing her authority to be brushed aside like a bug. Too many had thought themselves capable of taking such luxuries recently, and Weiss was sick of it. Blake Belladonna would be poorly mistaken if she thought she could get away with such a thing. She would not receive another decline for an answer.


	9. Chapter 9

** Dilectio  
Chapter 9 **

Weiss sighed as she slipped her robe over her shoulders, her eyes casting to the side. She couldn’t help but gaze at the woman who had warmed her bed for a salacious few hours. It was a small pleasure, this meeting of the flesh alone. It was a deep, primal sort of desire. It clung to her mind. It wasn’t as if they were personally close. These meetings had nothing to do with a deep or meaningful bond. In point of fact, it was strictly because this woman showed no signs of trying to increase her station that Weiss indulged the practice with the woman at all.

“Have I caught your attention, my lady?” Saphron asked jovially.

“Given your state of undress, you have.” Weiss replied coolly, averting her gaze once more while Saphron dressed.

The Arc family had many children, but Jaune was the only male of the generation. That was not to say they had a small family, but rather that they had a wealth of women among their numbers. One of them just happened to be inclined towards the fairer gender. The somewhat rarity of genuine interest was something that brought them together behind closed doors when so little else could.

“Sometimes I wonder if that is the only reason you call me to your bed.” Saphron said, with no real accusation in her tone. Merely a joke. One of which she knew that Weiss didn’t take well to.

“You know that it is.” Weiss replied, and that was no lie or falsehood.

Saphron was fine woman, though with lesser to her name than Weiss cared to admit. She was everything Weiss was inclined to be attracted to in a far lower person of station. She was docile, but in no way naive. She happened to be materialistic in nature, earning her a place tending and seeing after the particularly young noble youths. While Jaune tended to see after the more independent school aged boys and girls, Saphron and her sisters were inclined to younger ones. Seeing after the needs a children old enough to be away from their mothers, but not quite old enough to be completely off the hip.

“I really should be going.” Saphron said then.

“Yes you should.” Weiss said, though inwardly she had other wants at that moment. A near carnal desire once again flooding her. It was a shame she couldn’t demand to greet it once more, but it was better placed aside for the moment. She had her own work to do.

“Until next time then?” Saphron asked with a wink. Unflappably at ease after being newly satisfied.

“Go on then.” Weiss agreed. “Be gone with you.”

One might say she was the chosen one Arc of the family, or at least she would have been. If only a man was in her sights, she would have been married off quickly.

Being openly and unapologetically a lesbian removed Saphron from the eyes of most in search of a spouse. Homosexuality by its nature was something fairly uncommon, or at the very least not spoken widely about. Among nobles that inclination was a quiet thing. Heterosexual inclination was just commonplace, particularly when blood and bone decided the next generation of family inheritance and birthright. Therefore the successful acquiring of a mutual spouse was made more difficult for those otherwise inclined.

“Did I strike a chord, my lady?”

“Do I seem stricken?” Weiss asked, because she didn't feel that way. It was not that any uncomfortable lines had been crossed. Rather that she wondered if her own loneliness and requirements of a spouse where shaping her views of the woman in a different light. If it was so utterly wrong to shape them so? She would make a fine mother, and that was no question.

Instead of answering, Saphron merely left a fleeting kiss upon the lips of the lady of the lands. This meeting never to be aired to the public, much like the others that preceded it. She exited the personal chambers with a knowing grin as the door clicked shut softly behind her.

Weiss lifted her fingers to her lips with a muttered curse. No matter what she thought of Saphron, she wasn’t suited to the finery of the highest station. It was rather a shame too, because her personality was a sweet one. It wasn’t so much to be sickening or dense, but her kindness was irrefutable. She was reasonable, bright spirited, and fairly educated. She might not have known her way through complicated political doctrine, but in matters of theory and philosophy she could certainly carry a conversation further than one might expect. It was simply that Saphron chose not get into such debates, enjoying simpler conversation by nature.

That she was attractive certainly helped, and Weiss couldn’t help but enjoy the woman behind closed doors. Her features weren’t particularly delicate, but they were captivating. It was Saphron's stunning blue eyes, shades deeper than the average pool that first captured her attention. It was only followed by those simply kept locks of fawn that cascaded down around her effortlessly. Her curves were subtle, but Weiss had long thought that it was a further testament to her fertility. If the Arc line had anything go for it, it was the near endlessly progeny they seemed to produce.

Either way it was pointless to consider. Unfathomable to expect. Even so, she found herself making the consideration anyway. Weiss pushed the grievance away as she made her plans for travel. She had her own tasks at hand, and they couldn’t be placed aside for too long. Certainly not over such a mere dalliance, no matter how enjoyable it might have been.

* * *

It was never wise to leave Ruby at the fortress for too long, but Weiss was not going to dawdle in the landscape. With Pyrrha assigned to her protection and Glynda to see after her, Weiss ensured that Ruby would not be left out of sight long enough to come to danger. Penny was on full watch of the girl as well, James instructed to kill anyone to even look at Ruby the wrong way. With Jaune and Saphron both ordered to keep Ruby completely entertained and from finding a hint of trouble, Weiss set out alone.

This was the reason she often took Ruby with her. To ensure her protection, so many valued minds needed to be allotted to it. It slowed down efficacy and bogged down the people ordered to Ruby’s care. It was simply easier to take the child along. When she would be gone for long stretches of time Ruby simply had to leave as well. Humans were her greatest threat, particularly the educated minds who knew what her eyes were capable of. No Grimm would be nearly as dangerous as someone with malicious intent.

It mattered very little, she would not be gone long. Only long enough to retrieve the Faunus. A few days at most. Unlike Penny she knew the land clearly, and the quickest ways to traverse it. By the evening she had already taken several choice shortcuts through Grimm infested territory, and already stood on what the bandits claimed as their property. That didn’t slow her down in the slightest, she walked head-on without need for caution.

The bandits would be foolish beyond belief to refuse her entry, so when the massive doors opened Weiss strode inward as though she owned the place. In a manner of speaking, she did. The bandits live on her lands, in her domain. The panicked few who guarded the door went to tell Raven immediately, once they did they were stricken with the reality that there were two they needed to bow their heads to. Neither one being keen to share that respect with the other.

“What do you want, Schnee?” Raven muttered as she made her way through the camp. Those under her tribal law parting like the seas itself.

Though Raven had one hand resting upon the hilt of her sword, Weiss made no move other than to stand placidly. Reaching for her blade now would have only proved that she was ready for battle. That Raven was an opponent worth considering. Weiss saw little value in either of those things, and unlike Raven made no easy to read display. Her thoughts were left to be interpreted as others wished. It would be their mistake if her actions were misconstrued.

“My business is not with you, Raven.” Weiss said evenly. “Merely the Faunus you harbor.”

“You’ve come for no good reason, then. Blake probably wouldn’t go with you if you dragged her kicking and screaming.” Raven said with a bark of a lough. “Not that you’d get your hands on her long enough to even try it…”

“As though you’d stop me.” Weiss replied. “She isn’t one of your own, you wouldn’t dare trifle with me over the likes of an outsider.”

“Yang’s here, Winter as well. You wouldn’t even have a chance.” Raven shrugged then. “You’re free to wander about as you wish, so long as no harm comes to me or mine…”

Weiss raised her brow slightly at that. “I must admit, I didn’t think you’d be so hospitable…”

“Then, another word of advice, Schnee. Keep outta that tent unless you want to start a brawl.” Raven told her. “It’s not that I care one way or the other what you and Yang fight about, but if Yang fucks up my camp you’ll be getting the bill at four times the mark-up.”

“I don’t anticipate a fight, but I know rabid dogs when I see them.” Weiss said, tossing a bag of precious stones in the woman’s direction. Lien was useless compared to fine metals and gemstones that could be fashioned into highly sought after finery. “Stop snarling and have your bone…”

“Now we’re talking the same language…” Raven grinned as one of her lackeys picked up the bag. When he handed it to her, Raven opened up the small burlap sack, examining the gems within. “Alright, cut the crap. This is more than just a buyoff, what's your angle here?”

“It is no bribe. It is a forward payment. I know you tend to enjoy them." Weiss spoke loftily. "Consider this a small taste of the fortune you may be able to earn from me in the future.”

“You want to hire me? This is going to be good… What’s the job?”

“There’s some trouble brewing on this side of the territory. Unwelcomed guests, I’m sure you understand. Ears low to the ground, informants inside the lines, yes?”

“You got it…” Raven said, pocketing the gems. She’d take jobs from anyone if the price was right. “As for the trespassers?”

“You may do whatever you want with the likes of them. As far as I’m concerned they’re here for war. Loot them, humble them, kill them for all I care. It's of no consequence. Your little misfit group causing them any headache would be a boon to me as well. I have no desire to refute the matter.”

“How generous of you, but this is way more than our usual price." Raven said, shaking the bag in hand. "There’s a catch. Only question is, what is it?”

“These trespassers should be considered a threat.”

“I don’t consider them anything less, never would.”

“Then you already know to be careful and act with caution. How you may choose to act is upon your shoulders in this. While looting is certainly on the table, understand it is at your own risk entirely. However, I’d expect my villages to be spared from your ignorant wrath. If harm comes to the villages by your actions, your pay will be cut.”

“Hell, I’m no idiot. If you’re willing to pay this for simple recon, why piss around with the small fish?” It was purely a rhetorical question, but Raven already knew exactly how she would handle this. “If you want recon, we’ll get it done. Besides, I need those villages kept around too, otherwise we’d be forced to migrate. No one’s messing up my turf without me knowing about it.”

“Then I shall collect the Faunus and be gone from your sight.” Weiss said, gazing about until she located the tent that seemed to be far away from the others. That one had to be it. There was something foul in that tent, Weiss could feel it even as she pushed beyond the flap. There was a cold malignancy coming from the girl in the bed. Before she could step foot inside, a single hand pushed her back out.

“Weiss…” The elder Schnee greeted, though it was hardly welcoming.

“Dear sister…” Weiss replied coolly in kind.

“I don’t suppose I have to ask why you’re here…” Winter began, a dual set of crystal blue eyes wordlessly glanced to the Faunus. The siblings both gazing upon Blake at the same time briefly. She was only reason Weiss would have gone snooping this far into the camp. Winter closed the flap behind her tightly. “Though I do wonder at the nature of your intentions. Why has she gained your interest?”

“That is not the concern of a mere bandit, blood or not. You shall move aside.”

“On that, I’d beg to differ.” Winter said, one hand falling onto her hip. “I am indeed a bandit, and this is my home. You’re trespassing, and you have no right to stand here making demands to me of all people. Do try again, sister.”

“Move aside, Winter. I do not wish to draw my blade upon you. It was not my intention, and continues not to be unless I am forced to.”

“The feeling is not reciprocated. Though I would loathe it, I would willingly draw my own onto you.”

“How barbaric. We are blood and bone, dear sister. Cut from the same cloth, and raised under the same formidable elements. We do not need to draw blades over this.”

“It was you that refused to cut me down when you had the chance. You should have, but you refused to.” Winter said quietly. “It will be you that folds in this as well. I would never wish to kill you. Then again, I need not kill you to make my point. I have my pride too, as you know. You’re not going inside that tent unless you step over my dead body to do it.”

Weiss released a soft sigh, Winter had grown more crude during her time among the bandits. Less willing to peacefully negotiate, and far more willing to settle disputes the bandit way. It was a foul mouthed and foul tempered lifestyle. That Winter maintained any decorum at all was probably by the grace of the gods themselves. Weiss felt an immediate conflict within herself. She wasn’t here to trifle with bandits, but so long as Winter stood before her she might as well extend some of the family news.

“Blake Belladonna is not the only reason I’ve come, she is merely the paramount cause. There are other matters as well, and one concerns you. I need not offer you the courteously, but I thought you’d like to know that Whitley’s seed has taken well to his wife’s womb. She is with child, and the medics believe it shall be a male. A little prince, the first currently in line for succession.”

“You came out all this way just to tell me that? You could have sent word in a letter.”

“Betrayer of the fortress or not, I would like to think we are close enough still to speak candidly where it most matters.” Weiss replied, and while her gaze was growing icier by the second, her intent was not. “Loyalties are more than spoken word, correct? Or am I wrong, dear sister?”

Their paths in life were so different that it hindered their bond, but the question made it quite clear. Weiss would still welcome her back to the fortress in a heartbeat. She probably secretly wished that her elder sister would return one day to reclaim some level of honor, even if it would be nothing near to what it used to be. Winter felt a stone in her chest drop, sadly she sighed at length. Fate itself had been a cruel mistress to both of them. “No, my dearest sibling. You are not wrong in that.”

“Then take this notice and decide what you shall do about it. The question of bloodline is upon us. To answer this question, I shall soon take a wife of my own. I shall use the relic, and my chosen spouse will bear my children. Should you wish to lay claim to the throne, returning and having progeny of your own is the only way to attempt it. Even that is promised to not be successful, though I still offer you the chance to attempt to carry the line. That is all I have to offer you at this moment. The rest of my business is with that Faunus.”

Winter was about to tell Weiss strictly where to place that particular offer, but she hadn’t the chance to do so. Right then, Blake pushed out of the flap with golden eyes filled in agitation. “Would you two stop talking like I’m not right here? And can we get the hell away from the tent? Yang’s in a really pissed off mood. If she sees your sister here, she’s going to smear her into a bloodied heap.”

“She would try.” Weiss murmured, the treat amusing but impossible. “She would fail.”

“Blake makes a point, it is not wise to linger.” Winter said, placing a hand on her younger sibling’s shoulder as they began to walk a few paces away. “I was trying not to bother her. Yang would be in no mood for this mess.”

At that Weiss could feel her ire burning anew, stopping in her tracks. “It would be a mess no longer if you simply moved aside when I asked you to.”

“That isn’t going to happen.” Winter bit out. "She hates you, and there's nothing to be done about that given the situation."

"A situation that you know fully about." Weiss snapped. "That you still allow her to act with blind insanity is beneath you."

"If she knows nothing, that is upon your shoulders Weiss!" Winter snapped back harshly. "You should have come for the both of them. You should have collected Yang and taken her into the fortress as well the moment Summer Rose passed, but you didn't do that. You left Yang and her father in that dreary village, favoring only Yang's dear sibling."

"Sibling by half, Winter."

"She does not see the line. She never has, and it was you that cut her from it. You took the girl, and though I know the reasons I could never forgive you for the pains you caused because of it." Winter spat. "If she blames you for that pain for the rest of her life, then for the better. What you did was not honor, it was disgraceful."

"I gave my promise to Summer, and she is the one that stipulated Ruby be protected. She spoke nothing of Yang. If she had, I would have upheld it just the same. I kept my word to the letter."

"Yet, the intent was lost." Winter replied. "A Schnee always keeps their word, but if the intent is lost it no longer matters. You should have taken them into the fortress, and that is all that there is to it. That you continue not to rectify that misstep is on your hands. It will be your sin, and may you answer to the gods for it."

"Despite what you think, I uphold my vows to the best of my ability." Weiss said, the hurt in her heart concealed by her eyes. "I would not be standing before you otherwise. The Faunus is one such vow."

“I’m out here now with you anyway.” Blake pointed out. ‘You have my attention, so what in the world could you possibly want?”

“Personally, I want nothing from you.” Weiss bit out. “Never the less, I have ordered you to stand before me. When ordered to my court, you must come. Now, I expect that you cease this insolence immediately and pack your things. You will do as you are told, one way or the other.”

“I’m not going anywhere…” Blake snapped back.

“You have her answer, Weiss. Now I bid you to leave.” Winter hissed when the bandits began to watch them like ticking time bombs about to explode.

“Oh, I believe you wish me to stay. I have an answer to this problem of yours, sending me away now would be short sighted.” Weiss replied, unconcerned with the attention they were beginning to get. “I have something you have need of, I believe this is what is known as compensation even to bandits, is it not?"

Winter huffed with a roll of her eyes.

Weiss paid no mind to any of it. "Blake Belladonna, I was informed that you would not be willing to come to the fortress when you had a deathbed to loom beside. Is this true?”

“What of it?” Blake asked, her words edging on dangerous. "Now, you're wasting our time."

“As you are with mine.” Weiss said simply, producing a small vial. “This is purified water from the relic within my jurisdiction. It will stay the corruption of even the vilest sicknesses that this world has ever encountered. I shall gift Winter this water to be used on the girl, but only if you shall come with me in return.”

“Will it heal Ilia?” Blake asked, eyeing the glowing liquid. “Would she make a swift recovery?”

“It will stay the illness.” Weiss replied. “I cannot promise that it will heal it."

"Then what's the use?" Blake asked.

"A chance at all." Winter answered, not liking the position she was being placed into. "It's not a bargain I'd make, Blake."

"Yet, it is hers to make, not yours." Weiss said to her sister. "What plagues that girl is something I can feel, even from here. It is an impure thing, I doubt anything else would heal it at all. Though to promise a full recovery is beyond my means to guarantee. Her soul is being corrupted. Anyone within the Schnee family to hold our semblance would be able to feel the darkness turning in her. When we slay Grimm, we purify that darkness, and in return the Grimm take on our aura and our bidding. Sadly, you cannot do that to a human soul. It is too complex to wield. However pure water from the relic, occasionally it does offer the chance.”

"Only when that water is offered early." Winter said knowingly. "Given too late, and it's pointless. I think we have missed that opportunity. Even if we have not, I don't take kindly to this sort of bribery."

"The bribe is not for you." Weiss said. "It is the Faunus that decides, no other."

“Winter?” Blake asked questioningly. “Is there a good chance it’ll work?”

Winter looked between the two of them curiously. She had no idea what intention Weiss had when making the water, but the girl had no chance at all without it. “Blake, I will not lie. No herb can cure a Grimm’s corruption, and Ilia will die unquestionably without it. I’m even less certain of the water, though…”

“What will it do?” Blake asked, wanting and needing to know.

“To be fair, I'm not sure. It may be a devil’s deal, Blake.” Winter replied then. “The relics have a long history of staying a Grimm’s corruption. The Schnee’s are known for controlling the relic in small ways. That said, it is not always predictable. It's a coin toss, really. The sooner the water is given the better the outcome will be if the relic proved to favor the one that asked for it. however, the relic is also known to backfire.”

“That is always the gamble, is it not?” Weiss asked. "It has never once backfired upon me, I doubt it will do so now."

Winter nodded gravely, turning to Blake with deep concern. “If my sister says it will stay the corruption from getting worse, she is probably right in that way. The question is, at what cost? If it does not heal Ilia, she’ll be stuck living a life as ill as she is. If that is the outcome, we’d have to cut her down ourselves to spare her that agony.”

“Yang would never let that happen…” Blake said.

“It would be a cruel fate to expect her to live when she can barely see beyond her own delirium and fever. Life has limits, and twisting it does as well. The water isn't a cure-all, but it can keep the corruption from spreading.” Winter said, wondering if the water would do any good at all. She couldn’t fathom the guess. “The water may reverse some of the toxicity in ilia's soul, but it just as easily may not reverse anything. The corruption would then continue to fester in confinement. she would not get worse if that was the case, but she would not get better, either.”

"But there's still a chance..." Blake bit out softly.

“Do we have a deal then?” Weiss asked. “Will you come to the fortress in exchange for the water?”

Blake grit her teeth, it was an impossible choice. “Why do you even want me to go in the first place?”

“I do not make a habit to explain my intentions to those lesser than myself.” Weiss told her, looking back to Blake once more. Meeting eye-to-eye in a stare down. “Though if you decline the invitation, I shall bring you there by force. I stand here trying to offer you kindness, Faunus. My elder sister could attest to that rarity. I favor those who obey and punish those who refuse. The choice to settle this matter with civility stands before you.”

* * *

A chance was still a chance, no matter how slight that it was. Blake couldn’t decline it, couldn’t turn Weiss away even though she had desperately wanted to. Blake left without a formal goodbye, promising Winter she would return when she could. She still wasn’t even sure why she was going to the fortress. Weiss was not particular on the details, and it seemed she would continue not to be.

Just before Blake left, Winter had given Ilia the water. Blake had heard the quiet murmurs between those inside. Winter promising it would take effect soon enough. Yang stayed by ilia’s side the entire time. To Yang’s credit, she trusted Winter implicitly, searching for any hope at all. She didn’t ask about the water, of its nature. Didn’t think to question its failings, likely didn’t know enough to try. Furthermore, what the water would bring was another detail Winter didn’t offer.

It was all in blind faith between the Schnee siblings, for whatever little that was worth. Yang was left uninformed of that, and likely for the better. Winter needed to be strong in this, because Yang couldn't be. They all needed to be stronger in this, and Blake agreed because of that alone. She owed Yang her life, and Ilia deserved a chance to fight the illness off. There was no telling if it would work, but Blake refused to think it wouldn't.

Now that they were alone, Blake wanted to scream. She settled for kicking a pebble into a nearby collection of tall grass. Walking silently to the fortress, Blake considered a wealth of questions she might be lucky enough to receive an answer to. Some of them were small and pointless, others had far reaching consequences. Likely to anger the woman a few paces ahead of her. Still, one question clung to her mind, and she softly aired at again. This time less in demand and more in pure confusion.

“What reason could you possibly have to bring a Faunus like myself into the fortress?”

“Your presence was requested.” Weiss replied. “That is all you need to know.”

Blake sighed furiously. She didn’t even know who would want to see her. The fortress hated the Faunus, and it was a likeminded hate that was returned to them. The mutual hatred promised that they’d never get along. Who, then, would care to see her? There was only one person who even remotely came to mind, and that person was of no position to make those demands. “How is Ruby doing? She is not alone again in these woods, is she?”

“No, she is not.” Weiss said simply. “She is well, making trouble at every turn. You have no need to worry about that.”

Silence found them again as Blake watched the regal way that Weiss carried herself. Her white hair was perfect for catching the sunlight, almost prismatic beneath its warm glow. The woman couldn’t even be bothered to look back at her in reply, let alone spare a moment to slow her stride and speak plainly. A hint of shame touched Blake’s features. What would her parents say to this?

Her father would likely never be proud of her for bowing to a Schnee so easily. Unwilling, but walking with her anyway. As though she had been purchased and that this was no exchange of equal measure. Was this how the royalty spent their time? Collecting people as playthings and gallivanting around at whim?

“How long shall I be forced to stay within the fortress?” Blake asked her then. “I am a huntress, and it does a great disservice the longer I am unable to protect the villages.”

“For as long as I see fit, you will stay. When I have no more use of you, you shall leave.” Weiss said, though once again she made no move to regard the woman behind her. Still, a question of responsibility was at least tolerable. There was certainly no reason to hide her intentions. “During your stay, you will be tasked with other fine duties. Ruby requires a companion and desires to learn specific details regarding village women. You will fill those gaps in her education. It should not take long.”

“You say that, but educating youth takes time.”

“You know nothing of Ruby.” Weiss said softly. “She is a whimsical child. Once her curiosity is alleviated she tends to leave matters well enough alone. You became an all too willing enigma, and she is curious because of your actions. Rectify that and you may be on your way.”

“So I am your slave until you say otherwise?”

At this Weiss stopped for only a moment, as if to keep herself from stumbling. “As I told you once before, I don’t keep slaves.” She bit out with a pronounced acidity in her tone. “Such a twisted practice is beneath me in all ways. I keep servants, well taken care of and aptly compensated.” In truth, she had no idea why Blake thought such insane things to begin with. Couldn’t fathom the odd conclusion, it was baseless. No one in the fortress was allowed to keep a slave. Could not trade them, could not house them, could not traffic them.

“People aren’t objects, but it certainly seems as if you think I belong to you…”

Weiss was sure it was just blind anger that fueled this idiocy. Perhaps ill-timed brainwashing. Either way, it was a falsehood no one who knew her would think to make. Winter certainly wouldn't say something so idiotic. None of her own within the fortress would either. Particularly not a noble who knew well of fortress processes and practices. Then again, Blake was no noble, and knew nothing of the importance of power.

Noble women were expected to know their station, to respect it. That should stand as a paramount truth no matter where they happened to hail from. It was imperative that a woman understood those finite details. To know just when and where to speak up, and when to bow their heads and nod obediently. A woman who knew when to crumble, was a selfsame woman that knew when to uptake power and lead mightily. It was her sister who’d taught her such a lesson. Although it wounded the concept of Schnee family pride quite deeply, Winter had been better for it.

Through Winter, Weiss had become a better person as well. It was as much a gift as a curse.

It seemed Blake had not learned such a lesson herself. That she had not been educated to think in such a way. As a Belladonna she should have been raised to understand the subtle details of the world in which she lived. Weiss decided that she would place this lesson down for the Faunus. Though she doubted Blake would partake it.

“You do belong to me, in a vague manner of speaking.” Weiss murmured. “You live on my lands, you are one of my subjects. If you wish to place words into my mouth, that is your affair. If you wish to think yourself as my slave, that is your own insult onto yourself. However, I will not have you insulting me atop it. You will be compensated for your time at the fortress. A slave would not be. You could hardly quantify yourself as a slave. You are still armed, and battle ready. You are unchained for transport, a slave would have none of that.”

“Yet if I cannot defy you, what else would I be?”

“An insolent and disobedient subject of questionable loyalty.” Weiss told her. “My word is law, least you forget that. I suggest that you do not defy my orders. I would be forced to correct you. Even so, you could choose to defy me, consequences be damned.”

“So, I could choose to walk away right now…” Blake bit out. “And you’d let me?”

“No, I would not. Attempt to do so, and you will be subjugated or destroyed in my attempt.” Weiss told her unflinchingly. “Either way, that would be your utmost decision, not mine. My decision is that you do as you are told so that we may all gain from the experience. If that is not to your liking, you may take your chances with a different outcome. Either way, it is your freedom of choice.”

“That sounds ass backward to me.”

“Yet you were the one that came to such insane conclusions.” Weiss replied. “I’d suggest you hold yourself in higher regard in the future. Thinking of oneself as so lowly a station is unsightly. Now be silent before you insult either one of us any further. I will not hear more of it.”

* * *

The fortress was massive. She had heard of the stories of the Schnee lands and its impossible splendor, but she had never believed them to be true. It was fortified ancient architecture, though some claimed it couldn’t be ancient at all. She would scoff and grumble at the stories she’d heard about the fortress. So many that had seen it said that it was nearly magical. That no matter how old it became, it looked as though it never aged a day from the outside. It seemed that it was the same on the inside as well.

Beyond the thick walls protecting the outer gardens the stone laden path continued inward. Large pastures and kept distant livestock, and farmland rested just beyond that. Workers milled about, none of them paying mind to anything more than their work. They passed several large buildings that Blake had asked about. She hadn’t received an answer for any of them. Just beyond those buildings were the double doors to the palace proper.

Complete with vast corridors and an endless swirl of branching stairwells leading to other passages, this was a home that Blake doubted she would ever come to understand. The journey had been a rough one, her body aching only slightly from the unrestingly gruel pace that Weiss had insisted upon. How could she be so slim when she traveled at such length with White Grimm at her side? 

Blake didn’t dare voice that question out loud.

The walls kept immaculate pieces of fine art, holding strong against high ceilings painted with imagines out of fables and folklore. The hallways had long ornate rugs atop stone floors, while other rooms were decorated with vibrant gemstone inlaid within each tile. All of the furnishings themselves seemed equally as expensive. Either hand carved, carefully woven, or impeccably built in such a way to imply it had simply fallen from the sky that way. That no skilled hands could have fashioned such items. All of this contained merely in the single hall and open doored rooms that Blake passed by.

By the time they climbed several steps and passed by a handful of guarded doors, Blake was certain they had lost their way. It was only the assured pace Weiss kept that soothed Blake’s unfounded concern. Finally, they reached a door containing the Schnee emblem. Pushing passed it revealed another elegant sitting room and another set of corridors. Although these ones seemed warmer than the last.

“My personal wing.” Weiss murmured as she noted the Faunus behind her. Glistening amber eyes inspecting her new surroundings.

“A most sincere welcome to you, my lady.” Glynda said with a deep bow. The dignified lesser noble had gone to great length to finish her preparations in time, but she showed not even an ounce of her efforts plainly as she regarded Blake. “Huntress, may I warmly welcome you to the Schnee Fortress. It is known as Atlas by the common peoples.”

“Hello...” Blake said, her voice almost too quiet to hear. A mild panic setting in as she realized that Glynda had bowed to her as well. Had the world itself gone mad?

“Glynda, this is Blake Belladonna.” Weiss replied with her own placid nature. “On top of your normal duties, you will allocate the household to see to her every need. You will prove all that she requires. I leave her in your hands, acclimate her accordingly.”

“Certainly, my lady.” Glynda said without a moment of hesitation. As Weiss began to take her leave, it was only then that Glynda lifted her gaze to take sight of Blake properly. Lifting her head from her low bow. Blake carried with her a stench of the wilds. The smell of thick smoke, dirty booze. A feeling of death cloaked the woman’s armor. Common place descriptors for huntresses, but poorly suited for within the fortress to be sure. Despite all of that, Blake was not a slight to the eyes. Easy to look at, lacking no disfigurement or ugliness that often plagued those of lesser means. She would clean up well, Glynda was sure of it. “Huntress, allow me to introduce myself. I am Glynda Goodwitch, a lesser noble and royal attendant to our wondrous lady of the lands. If you would please follow me, your lodgings have been prepared.”

“Lead the way…” Blake said, her voice more off-key than she’d like. The whole situation was far more off-putting than she cared to admit. Least of all because she knew nothing of these humans or their ways. Everything was unlike the way she expected it, and things she thought to be simple truths were now false. Lesser nobles were to attend her? A mere Faunus? It was insane. Impossible on its face! She wasn’t even supposed to be here.

Glynda wordlessly guided Blake to the room she would use. Wisely not choosing to make a comment about the bandit tribe and their squalor. Still, Glynda couldn’t help but feel that Blake would look rather pretty if she were freshly washed and given proper clothes to suit her. She had a rather nice figure, and with the right cloth to compliment her eyes they would glitter like the finest gemstones. With these considerations in mind, Glynda was already planning what forms of cloth to bring the woman during formalities.

“You will come to find that there are many comforts to partake here within the fortress. There is very little we want for, and should something to be to your liking you’d need only ask.” Glynda said gently. “I’d encourage you to enjoy luxury whilst you can.”

“I won’t be staying here for very long.” Blake told her, more than a little awestruck. A cloud darkened her mind when the obvious fact made her legs feel heavy. “I’d imagine the people around here have a distaste for Faunus.”

“Perhaps so, but not as many as you might think.” Glynda replied, wondering just what sort of person Blake was at her core. She had to wonder about Weiss too, and her lingering intent to do business with a person she clearly disliked. Perhaps dislike was the wrong classification to her true feelings? Otherwise, why expose Ruby to a person she would otherwise brush aside? It was a looming curiosity, but Weiss was never to be question about such a touchy subject. “Some of us think nothing particular of Faunus in general. Neither of the negative or positive. I am one such person.”

“You’d be an outlier, I think.”

“Perhaps you could be right.” Glynda said, any mind to disagree was slammed down by the politeness expected of her. It mattered very little just what sort of wounded pride the Faunus carried. Glynda knew it was none of her business or concern. She stopped at their destination, opening the door and stepping inside. “These are your rooms. Please, make yourself comfortable.”


	10. Chapter 10

** Dilectio  
Chapter 10 **

Blake couldn’t imagine just how much a room like this could be worth. A small fortune at least, and she didn’t want to think of just how high a price that could scale to. It was wrong for her to be here. In a place that Faunus had thought about in passing, and spoken of with venom. It was amazing how such cold stone could feel so warm from within. It was almost otherworldly.

Once again the floor came covered in finely crafted materials, whisper soft underfoot. Likely just as soft to the touch. The ceiling was painted ornately, a scenic countryside covered in trees and flowing water. Two immaculately carved wardrobes sat in opposite corners, and a full bed was a far cry from the usual sleeping mat one might find in a bandit camp. It was dressed in the finest bed sheets, a thick throw over the top adding a splash of white and blue to the room. The hearth was already housing a warmly flickering fire, keeping the room comfortable.

“The bedroom is to your liking, yes?” Glynda asked, though she had expected such a reaction as Blake gazed around in awe. As if even the smallest misstep would cause the entire fabrication of reality to come crumbling down around them. That was the way most people unused to finery acted within the fortress.

“It’s more than I’d thought possible…”

“As I said, we are accustomed to luxury here. The room is at your disposal for comfort.” Glynda told her. “We are one of the few settlements on Schnee lands to pride ourselves with easily obtainable water within the fortress. Water comes fresh from a nearby stream, and is warmed by feeding a nearby fire. The servants see to this, and you will be able to bathe with the water as warm as you might wish. I’d suggest you do so and then partake suitable garments from the ones provided in the wardrobe. Be swift, as I am sure that young Ruby will summon you as soon as she hears you’ve arrived.”

“She can do that?” Blake asked.

“She can do anything the lady of the lands permits her to do.” Glynda nodded gently, politeness close at hand. “Your foremost task will be to attend to a portion of Ruby’s education, so I am told. Therefore, one would think you shall be spending a majority of your time with the girl. I’d assume this includes meals and leisure. If you are not summoned by Ruby, or the Lady Schnee herself, it is advisable you remain here. Should you wish something, you may always call for it. Please make yourself at home…”

Blake’s throat constricted tightly as she gave her thanks. Glynda left and Blake found herself in a space far beyond her means, unsettled by the vastness of it all. Out of complete curiosity Blake made her way to one of the large wooden wardrobes. Inside formal dresses and colorful gowns met her eye. Mixed within were ceremonial robes of many colors. Unmarked, but stained beautifully in dyed pigments.

Blake closed the immaculate clothing away with a breath. It was all seemingly impossible, yet here she was. It was no dream, just insane reality.

* * *

“Can I go see Blake now?”

Weiss mentally cursed the question. She wished the girl would stop asking it. She had been hoping to wait to tell Ruby that Blake had arrived, but rumors were like wildfire. The maids servants were murmuring of the woman with catlike ears. The nobles were biting their tongues. Even something as simple as a single meal had been dashed to bits, because if Ruby was anything it was persistent.

“No, you may not. You are needed here at the table.” Weiss replied, slicing delicately into a piece of lamb. “Now eat your dinner.”

“But I wanna eat fish from the stream.”

“In due time you will. That time is not this instant.”

“But I want to go play with Blake.”

“The huntress is exhausted from her journey. She needs time to acclimate herself properly before you decide to incorporate her into one of your grand adventures. You have your dinner in front of you.”

“Lamb’s gross…” Ruby pouted unhappily.

“You’ve enjoyed it before.” Pinching the bridge of her nose, Weiss fought the battle that she could never seem to win.

“I don’t want it. It doesn’t taste good, and it smells funny.”

“If you wish a sweet from the kitchen, you must eat the lamb.” Weiss replied, knowing that no one would dare gift this girl a crumb of cake if Weiss made the order to refuse.

Ruby did take a bite of her lamb, but to her keeper’s dismay she spit it back out into her place. “Yuck….”

“Right little monster, now aren’t you?” Weiss asked, though it lacked both heat and reprimand. It was an observation, little more. “Come now, it can’t be that offensive. The cooks went to great length to prepare it for you. It would be unsightly to send it back half chewed.”

“It’s got weird thingies in it.” Ruby said, picking up one such spice and squishing it between her fingers. The mushed greenery made Ruby cringe and she wiped it on her dark blue robes. “You always say I’m not supposed to eat weird stuff.”

“That is because there are poisonous plants and animals in the wild. Often tasty looking things are the most deadly. I say that so you do not come to harm. Everything upon your plate is perfectly edible, Ruby, I assure you.” Weiss told her knowingly. If not, her royal meal taster would have dropped dead before the meal had been served. There was no drop of poison to be found.

Weiss thought on that as she partook her own meal more carefully. The apparently weird things in question were rare herbs. Weiss found it rather pleasant, a delicacy she would pay mind to ask for again. A thought came to mind though, and she was forced to consider it as she partook a finely steamed carrot. It too was covered in the herbal mix, and Ruby was just as keen to turn her nose up to them as well.

Perhaps then, it truly was the flavor itself. Perhaps the new taste was strictly the problem?

“If you dislike the lamb, try your potato.”

“They’re slimy and gooey!” Ruby said, sticking her finger into it. "And squishy..."

“They're mashed potatoes, they are meant to be that way. That sauce is merely gravy…”

“It’s not brown…”

“Not all gravy is meant to be brown.”

“But it doesn’t look like gravy.”

Weiss sighed once more. The cook had gone to great pains to acquire ingredients, but they were not native to the area. Weiss could recall her own disgust as a child when new foods graced her plate. She ate them without complaint, unlike Ruby who sat in front of her. Maybe it was the unfamiliar flavor that repulsed her so much? If so, she only needed to get used to it.

“Simply try one bite.”

“Noooo?”

“Ruby…”

“Fine.” Ruby said, scooping up the tiniest smidgeon of mashed potato possible. The face she made alone was proof enough she wouldn’t take another.

“That was not what I meant.”

“But I did it.”

“Yes.” Weiss groused in displeasure. “That you did.”

Ruby pushed her plate away, she didn’t want the rest of her dinner. Wouldn’t be inclined to try it anymore.

The lady of the lands merely shook her head, this wouldn’t do at all. Her own upbringing coming to mind. It was the expectation that if most parents willed something of their offspring, and the child did it or faced consequences. It was a thankful thing, then, that Weiss never once considered herself this child’s mother. She was Ruby’s caretaker, her overseer, her keeper, but she was not her mother.

Even if she were something of the sort, Weiss had long concluded that certain wars just weren’t worth the fight. The principle of the matter alone was an idiotic concept of blind leadership at best. Weiss knew her own father would have made her eat every single bite, no matter how it might turn her stomach later. In his mind, his word was not to be bent nor twisted. One ate what one was served, and it was that simple. Such logic was tyrannical in its own way.

A healthy meal was simply nourishment to fortify the body. It was no more use than that. Pretending it had any more use was just ignorance. Sure it could be a measure of control, her father had proven that. However if authority was really that fickle, it was no authority at all. Respect was earned best with fairness, not fear. Bending fairly in this whim was by far not a loss. Some might call it a waste of good food. Perhaps it was, but Ruby was no starving child on the street. Never would be. Her meals should be something she enjoyed. It was her luxury, afforded her by the nature of her station within the fortress.

Weiss liked favorable outcomes, held them loftily when they suited her. She didn’t much like being argued with, but an argument of reasonable merit was an argument worth hearing. As a lady to her lands, and countless people of great need, she had learned that. Actions taken with temperance was often to her advantage. This was no different.

“Is there something here at this table that you did manage to like?”

“I really want a fish from the stream.” Ruby said. “I wanna cook it over the fire.”

Weiss could have ordered the kitchens to prepare one of the freshly caught fish, but it was just another veiled request to see Blake. It wasn’t truly about the fish at all, but rather the idea of bonding with someone she so wished to see. Her heart had been set on that, but all in due time.

“You will not be having fish tonight. You’ll have to ask Blake for that when you see her.” Weiss said, deciding that request completely out of the question. “Your soup bowl is empty. Did you enjoy that?”

“Maybe?”

“The soup or the lamb, Ruby. You shall have something more upon this table. Now then, shall you decide what it will be, or will I choose for you?”

Ruby pointed at the soup, answer enough. She was still clearly unhappy over not being able to leave the table though.

Weiss took a warmed dinner roll and ripped in half, buttering it lightly before placing it in front of Ruby. Then she refilled the small bowl of soup meant to encourage the appetite. The vegetable medley was not meant to be a main course, but Ruby had a liking to soups and stews. It was serviceable enough fill the belly and provide important nutrition.

“You’ll find this more palatable. Partake that instead.” Weiss said unhappily returning to her own meal. “I expect that bowl polished off before my own plate has been cleared. Do not expect your nightly sweet, either. Sweets are only for children who eat their meals properly, which you have chosen not to do.”

Ruby took her spoon dubiously. “I can still have milk though, right?”

Weiss smirked, the girl had no idea that was actually nutritious. Though she doubted it rightly mattered if Ruby had known. The girl took to her milk like an alcoholic did to liquor, inclined to have it at every time of the day she could get her hands on it. “Yes, you may still have your milk before bed as you are accustomed to.”

Thankfully, after that assurance Ruby dug into the refilled bowl of soup without complaint.

* * *

A hot bath and warm meal did little to soothe Blake’s nerves. It was all too opulent. She found herself dressed in the simplest thing she could find among the wardrobes, the distaste she felt at the garment gave her half a mind to take it off. She’d been more than a little miffed when Glynda came in the room, insisting that Blake wear an evening dress far beyond her means. Now, looking at herself in the mirror she barely recognized herself.

The black dress shimmered with flecks of gold and amber, both colors hitting the light perfectly against the swath of dark fabric that went down to her ankles. Thankfully it wasn’t particularly tight. The belt that synched around her waist formed her figure. The cutouts at her shoulders and the somewhat deep neckline left a little to be desired. It showed too much, but Blake suspected that was the point. Thin heels ended up putting a few inches on her, only furthering her stature and appearance.

“You wear it well, huntress.” Glynda replied softly.

“It’s nice of you to say so.” Blake said, swallowing hard.

“I say it because it is true. If not for your ears, no one would think you out of place.”

But she was out of place, of course. There was no way to hide the fact that she was born and raised in a different way. Without splendor, her life forged by the difficulties of the outside world. Watching from the mirror as Glynda finished brushing her hair into line, Blake could only feel a distinct bitterness rising up from the place she kept it buried. It was only then that she noticed how her black hair nearly blended in with the fabric of the dress perfectly. As if everything had been planned to match her that way.

“That about does it, I believe.” Glynda said, pulling the brush trough one final time before setting it aside. “Come now, I believe you were expected within the hour. Lady Schnee does not enjoy waiting.”

“I honestly didn’t expect her to call for me.” Blake said as she followed after Glynda. “What could she want of me at this time of night?”

“That I haven’t been told. Although If I am to be truly honest, I didn’t inquire either.” Glynda said as she took the honored guest to the personal library. “You will find it is not wise to question the lady of the lands, no matter how burning the question. Obedience to her authority is expected. When we are called upon, we answer that call unflinchingly. That is the way of it here, and you will grow used to it.”

"I don't think so." Blake said dryly.

The halls were empty, just as they were before. Only a few people seemed to pass by, but none were dressed as resplendently. Glynda herself lacked the same sort of attire, and Blake could only wonder why everyone else happened to be dressed in mere robes. Keeping the thought to herself was the wisest decision as the humans who passed by glared at her, looking to her as though she were the scum of the earth.

In their eyes, perhaps she was.

Their toleration was a grudging one, she could tell. While Glynda seemed impassive about Faunus, not seeming to mind just as she had claimed, others clearly felt differently. Glynda did little more than softly clear her throat, enough of a warning to send those few wandering the halls to bypass with a faster step.

“Do not dwell on matters beyond you.” Glynda said to Blake one they turned the corner. “Only those of particular worth are permitted into the rooms of snowflake crests. Most of them were raised to believe and think in ways that would have them sneer at anyone lower than themselves. Faunus or human peasantry matters very little once you stand as high as they do.”

“It’s still insulting.” Blake said softly.

"Agreed, but you will find they are not easily enlightened."

"A good kick in the ass might do it." Blake murmured.

At first she thought Glynda didn’t hear her at all, but figured out it was that Glynda had nothing meaningful to say. They’d reached their destination. Glynda pushed passed the door into a room well-lit and warmly colored. Shelves filled with books and parchments spanned several rows. A large table lay completely littered in children’s books, as though it was left forgotten. Occasionally they’d bypass a glass case or two, a lock guarding even more tomes, though these looked older than time itself. Works of imbedded scripture lay within clay, and old stone carvings were protected from impurities and resting on velvet cloth.

Finally they came to large doors of multicolored sea glass. Tints of blue, clear, and aqua melting into one another and glowing with a power beyond that of oil lamps, candles, and torches. This light was different somehow. Unearthly. As if it had life of its own. That it was a door to the heavens or some impossible land.

“While it’s true the lady of the lands hates to be kept waiting, she hates surprises even more. I ask that you wait here. I shall announce you.” Glynda murmured, opening the door just wide enough for her to step through. The blurred image beyond the glass disappearing deeper into the room that Weiss was suspected to be lingering in.

While Blake waited she took the time to gaze at one of the glass cases, inside this one lay more stone tablets from a time long gone. Dated and placed inside cautiously. These ones protected by the same unearthly glow as the door, for reasons Blake couldn’t even begin to guess.

Moments later, Glynda returned and called for her to enter. Inside were yet more glass cases, each one glowing, as if an aura surrounded it. She didn’t have the time to look into each one as she followed Glynda to a far wall. There more books and another desk sat majestically in front them. It was there that Weiss took her perch in a large armchair. It dwarfed her, a sight to behold. Nearly everything here seemed gigantic. A leather-bound book nearly three times the size of a normal one both in thickness and in height rested atop the desk. Quill in hand, dipped with fresh ink, Weiss finished her penmanship and dusted sand atop it to blot the ink that wouldn’t absorb.

“That will be all, Glynda.” Weiss replied, not even daring to look away from the quill as she set it neatly to the side. “You are dismissed.”

“Of course, my lady.” Glynda said softly. “If it is all the same to you, I’d like to retire for the night. Please call for me if you have need of me.”

Weiss lifted a hand with a small wave as if to agree, her gaze firmly upon the gigantic beast she had just completed. The newest Grimm discovery now given a page in the tome that would be passed through the generations. Finally, as though satisfied with her masterwork, Weiss lifted her gaze to the Faunus woman standing in front of her.

“Blake Belladonna, how good of you to come.”

“I wasn’t given a choice.”

“There is always a choice, just as there is always an outcome.” Weiss replied then, blue eyes carrying only a hint of annoyance. “I do not forget the insolence of a subject, not do I take kindly to insult. You’ve done both of these things, and to great length. I mean to see that corrected.”

“This garbage again?” Blake asked. “Don’t you ever get tired of it?”

“It is because I am tired of it that I mean to correct it.” Weiss told her, one elbow lifting to the chair of the arm to rest. Her chin falling into her palm. “I do a great more deal of work that you could ever give me credit for. You know nothing, and yet claim to know all that surrounds me at every turn. You will soon understand huntress, that I have sound reasoning in my commands. In most everything I do, I do with great consideration. When I give an order, it shall be obeyed.”

“I was taught that obedience was only given to someone who earned it.”

“What makes you believe I haven’t?”

“I see no proof.”

Weiss raised a single eyebrow delicately at this. Glynda was correct in her assessment. The Faunus did manage to clean up well. Dressed properly and as one should be, she was quite magnificent. Enticing curves molded by an unkind life, and a road not easy to walk upon. In the dress, the Faunus looked softer than her strength implied. Perhaps she was, maybe if given half a chance, she’d come to see reason. Weiss certainly liked reasonable women. Bright ones charmed her, and those able to cut deep into the bones of society itself ignited a fire in her belly.

Many women were easy to gaze upon, many others easy to take to her bed. So few could rise above womanly expectation, but huntresses knew a different life. Weiss couldn’t help but speculate on that. Was this defiance of Blake’s blind, flat out stupid, or otherwise? Was there wisdom in her acts? Weiss was curious to know.

Either way, it was difficult to ignore those molten amber pools burning at her. A face-to-face meeting so few would dare to offer. Easy on tired eyes that prayed for sleep, a dreamlike image. Weiss was not apt to deny herself such a fierce demand. It was too amusing, and in her domain, a little amusement went a long way. “Oh, so I see. Is this proof of yours all that you require?”

“You say that like it’s such a simple thing.” Blake said with a shake of her head, eyes downcast to the floor. This one a single slab of stone with ancient text carved into it. All of the mystery of this place was growing infuriating. “Even Winter thinks you dishonorable. If you don’t even have the credit of your sister, how could I ever have faith in someone like yourself?”

Any words that Weiss might have had died right there, murdered ruthlessly in her throat. Ice blue eyes, sharp as ever, searched that pained expression. It didn’t soothe her own ache. An imperceptible frown touched her lips at that. This dreamlike beauty had thorns, sharp ones with barbs that burrowed in and ceased to be removed. It was then Weiss recalled that the ears atop the woman’s head were not to be forgotten. Faunus were more barbarous than bandits, and this one was no dream.

She was a nightmare.

“You know nothing of what she thinks.” Weiss bit out, prickled by the accusation. “How could you know when she chooses not to tell you anything?”

“Her outburst today certainly speaks the truth of what I’ve come to understand.”

“Then you are indeed a half-wit.” Weiss sighed, inwardly despondent. “Winter is no longer of the fortress, she left that title behind. Furthermore, her care for others blinds her in a way she will not admit. That you currently believe her is no concern of mine. You wish proof, you shall have it. Step around to this side of the desk. I shall explain the proof you seek. Regard the book from my angle.”

Blake did it, but she wasn’t happy about it. There was an Ursa on the page. Written words scrawled in a language she couldn’t read. She was a fluent reader, and good one. This wasn’t of the common tongue in these parts. “It’s just a common bear Grimm. I see nothing to prove to me anything more than that.”

“That is because I have yet to explain.” Weiss bit out as she also stood up. “Now, silence your ignorance and listen closely. Any huntress could look upon this creature and know it is a Grimm. Mind you, this is no woodland Ursa. Far from it. Though I grant you it looks the same, it has intellect. It is no commonly slobbering beast.”

“So what if it's a little smarter that average? Many long-lived Grimm are smarter than the younger ones.” Blake shot back. “What’s the point?”

“You will find that out once you face it.” Weiss told her darkly. “I have imprisoned the bear for study, but my research has thus concluded. Anything that could be known of the Grimm with our practices have been archived in this book. Now it is time to slay it. You shall be the one to do it.”

“What, too weak to do it yourself?”

“That would be a shortsighted claim, even for you. It is my expertise to slay Grimm and bring them under my command. That is the way of a Schnee, however you have asked for proof.”

“I honestly don’t see what one has to do with the other.” Blake said, her words puzzled beneath agitation. “Besides, if it’s been locked away, it surely will be easy to kill.”

“It will not be under lock and key when it is defeated.” Weiss told her. “You know nothing of our ways, else you’d know it would take place in the stadium, with onlookers present. Grimm are often slain for entertainment, particularly when I am the one to down the creature. It is a rare look at my power the people may observe for themselves. If you wish to understand my actions, you must first understand the way I command my supremacy. The mother of all Grimm is Salem herself, she is this aberration’s creator."

“It’s just an Ursa.” Blake said, because to believe anything else would be insane. “An old one, maybe smarter than we’d come to expect, but it’s still just that.”

“If you wish to know why Ruby is under my protection and not that of her sister, you must understand the Grimm that I slay. They are not the ones that wander the forests, but the ones that come strictly for those of silver eyes. Those like Ruby Rose, and her mother before her. You will see for yourself, because you will slay it. You will see the type of Grimm that pose the truest threat to this world. They are above average, beyond conventional understanding. You will begin to see what truly lurks in the shadows.”

“I didn’t agree to do it.”

“You do not need to agree, because you will do as you are told.” Weiss said with no ounce of sympathy. “Winter gets away with her words upon me because she has stood in that stadium. She knows too well what we face. My finest researchers spent hours toiling away, and yet only a single page of knowledge was collected for all of their efforts. This monstrosity is a rather weak one compared to others I have seen, but it is a monstrosity no less. On its dying day, you will slay it.”

* * *

Cinder Fall, a woman who claimed lesser lands could do no more than sneer at the wondrous hills and open fields covered in lush greenery. Such perfect lands, so unlike her own. It made her sick to think that these lands could have belonged to her if the Schnee’s were no place in sight. Any of the old relic lands could have been hers, if only her parents had thought to provide her with the means and power to do so.

They were weak willed idiots, but soon her luck would change. These lands would be hers. She swore her life upon it. Now, she had the power to try. All she needed to do was use it to her advantage. She sat in her tent looking over her plans when the flap opened to one of her most trusted allies.

“Cinder, I have news. We’ve just gotten a letter from Watts.”

“Good work, Emerald. Give it to me and pour some ale.” Cinder said happily, holding out her hand to take it. The word came from a northern accomplice with his own desire to see these lands fall into different hands. A spy within the Ironwood fold.

“Yeah, sure thing.” Emerald replied with a smile. The girl bound in combat leathers swiftly handed over the letter sealed with wax and grabbed a nearby corked bottle. Popping it, the drink fizzled as she poured it into two wooden mugs. “So, what does it say?”

“He rambles at length, I am just getting to the importance of it." Cinder replied, flipping a few of the pages. She would read his ramblings later for deeper insight. "Ah, I see. The child has been born early. He lives despite it. The medics are worried he will cease to breath, but the Ironwood fortress claims the child is strong."

"So, it really is a baby boy?"

"According to this the rumors were correct, it is in fact a son.” Cinder said, though she had already suspected it would be. The rumors had been rampant enough from the start. She wouldn’t have dared to speculate otherwise. It wouldn’t have mattered either way. “It seems the Schnee and Ironwood fortresses have redoubled their fortifications, but there are gaps we can circumvent to our needs. I presume that's the rambling in the prior pages.”

“How quickly can we act on our plans?”

“That greatly depends, I’d think.”

Emerald had to admit, it worried her. “If we wait too long we may miss our chance.”

“That’s true, but if we act too swiftly, we’ll lose the opportunity to cut down the entire line. This changes nothing, we continue as we planned to. We will first slay the eldest, Winter Schnee. Cut her down while she wanders the forest, remove her before word gets to the fortresses. Even they hear, I doubt she would be missed. They think so little of her now. Once we deal with her, we may move northbound. Everyone will be so focused on the baby, they’ll pay no mind to our movements.”

“Cinder, are you sure about this?” Emerald asked softly as she placed one of the mugs in front of her. “We were told only to go after the Schnee fortress, where the girl is being kept. Salem didn’t say anything about cutting down the entire line of succession. She just wants the girl, nothing else.”

"Salem doesn't care of the Schnee line one way or the other." Cinder said pointedly. "I do, and I want them dead."

"It seems dangerous..."

“That goes without saying, Emerald. However, Salem left the planning to me. So long as we get the girl, how we do it doesn't matter.” Cinder told her. “We need to cut into the Schnee’s piece by piece if we have a hope acquire the silver eyed girl. It would only benefit us to take hold of the lands here while we’re at it. However, that requires cutting down every Schnee, removing the bloodline from power.”

“Another would rise to the occasion though…”

“It would, but I plan that bloodline to by my own, and no other. If we get to the relic first, I can claim it for my own.” Cinder told her softly.

“If we fail in this…”

“We won’t, that would be impossible given what we know and who we’re allied with. Affiliations go far, and this time we are stronger for it.”

“But say we do fail. What then? It would mean our lives or worse.” Emerald said worriedly. “You know what Salem does to people who fail. She turns us into those... those things...”

“Then be sure to fail in a way that ends your life if you have any intention of failing at all.” Cinder replied as she placed the letter aside and took the mug in hand. Sipping it, she regarded her longtime friend and vagabond. “We will not lose this endeavor. I refuse to lose this time.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“We cannot return with nothing to show for it either way.” Cinder said softly. “Emerald, there’s nothing but wasteland to call home. Our only hope is a relic of our own, and those are in the hands of cowards. If we do as Salem says, our day of victory will come, and with it everything we’ve been lacking. We will do as Salem wishes, but we will do as we wish as well. Just do as you are told and the relic shall be ours.”

“I just hope you are right.” Emerald murmured. “We’ve never had the strength before to pull something like this off, and if we mess it up even a little…”

“Don’t worry about a thing.” Cinder said softly, a smile pulling upon her lips. This time, she was confidant she’d succeed. “So long as you do exactly as I say, it’ll all go according to plan.”


	11. Chapter 11

** Dilectio  
Chapter 11 **

Ruby finally got her wish, and it was just outside the fortress walls that a nearby stream became her first lesson. She made her fishing pole with exuberance, crafting one with a simple stick, a thick string, and a hook. They were guarded heavily, but the girl paid no mind to the white Grimm of all kinds. They lazed about in the sun placidly, not seeming to mind keeping watch. Blake was more disinclined to enjoy the fact that those white monsters surrounded them, blue beady eyes glaring as if to see right into her.

“Be careful Ruby, the hook is sharp.” Blake warned as the girl replaced her bait after it had been stolen.

“It’s not working…” Ruby said, inspecting the hook with more than a little confusion.

“Fish can be hard to catch. It takes a little time.”

“But it’s been a little time.” Ruby said putting down her fishing pole and wading into the shallow water. “Look at all the fish. They're everywhere, why can't I catch one?”

“Some know better than to bite the line.” Blake said with a laugh. “Be careful though, the rocks are probably slippery.”

“It’s okay, I do this all the time.” Ruby said while splashing about, inadvertently terrifying the fish in question.

“Be careful, or we’ll have to move. They won’t come back if you scare them all away.”

“Oh, I should probably stop then. Weiss will be mad if we have to move again.”

Blake didn’t doubt it, though Ruby likely didn't fear that outcome at all. The girl certainly seemed the ambitious sort. Blake merely cast her line back out and rested the pole in-between a few rocks to keep it steady. She hoped her example would give the girl the motivation to try the proper way again.

“I bet I’m faster than they are.” Ruby said as she splashed around a little more before standing still in the slowly moving current. "I wonder if I could catch one.”

“Well, probably but you’d get all wet and the water is cold.” Blake told her. “Besides, most of us don’t catch fish with our semblances. It’s just not something we do.”

“Oh…” Ruby said, deflating as she trudged back out of the water. She plopped back down onto the grass. Taking the fishing pole in hand, Ruby tossed the line back out like she had been shown. “So I just wait?”

“Basically…” Blake said with a soft nod. "There are people who do this for a living, so they have better equipment for things like this. We'll catch a few though, we just need to wait it out. The fish will bite eventually."

\--

From several paces away the Faunus and child were being observed. Well out of earshot, Weiss leaned idly against a tree. She was trying to discern what exactly captivated the girl. She just didn’t see it. She looked to the woman beside her, also equipped for battle should there be one. “Well, have you discovered why exactly Ruby is so taken with her?”

Glynda was not sure what to say. There were likely many reasons, but she didn’t claim to know Ruby’s mind. “It is rather strange, I will say that.”

“Baffling.” Weiss agreed. “I cannot fathom why. Unless of course… no, that would be impossible. She is far too young for that.”

“Too young for what, my lady?” Glynda wondered, pure curiosity and little more.

“Too young for matters of the heart.” Weiss replied. “Unless I am mistaken?”

“It depends on what length you refer to. Romantic natures are not within Ruby’s sights, but love itself has other forms.” Glynda said after a moment to think. Ruby was too young to sway towards any clear inclination. It likely wasn’t a crush or anything of the sort. Though, that didn’t meant there was no heart involved in the matter at all. Ruby lived a very lonely life, all things considered. “Platonically I often wonder if she is not starved for love and attention. Children crave that, need it to sustain.”

“I’d like to think I am overly generous with her. Does that not fill the voids?”

Glynda sighed then. “My lady, she is not your own. She notices that, of course she would. It likely burdens her in some ways. People tend to draw themselves to others of like souls and like minds, a commonality of sort.”

Weiss merely watched on. There was likely truth to it. Still, the Faunus of all people. It was uncanny. “She is attended by anyone she wishes. She has plenty of attention. I do not understand this commonality, whatever it may be.”

“Grudging attention, my lady.” Glynda corrected. "I think that to be key."

“She did bring that to my attention.” Weiss admitted thoughtfully. “Ruby was not keen on allowing me to see to the matter. It upset her greatly.”

“My lady, if I may be blunt?”

“Certainly, insofar as it applies to this discussion.”

“It would seem obvious that she would feel discouraged on occasion. Many do not seek her out, and a child knows when they are unwanted. It is an intrinsic feeling among all of us, and children are not immune to its effects.”

“So then, why would she seek this Faunus to give her attention. It is clear to me that she had no intention to come to the fortress without come level of force involved. That is why I collected her personally.”

“I wouldn’t begin to guess, I’ve not the slightest idea. Although, I will say that Blake shows no signs of disliking the girl. With all due respect, my lady, it was this fortress she wished to avoid.”

“Indeed, that is a fact…”

“Hmm, you’ve said she has something of an interest in Ruby’s wellbeing. Perhaps Ruby senses that? That she favors her, much like she favors you because Blake takes notice of her willingly?” Glynda murmured softly. “Perhaps it is the casual affiliation that they share?”

This cause Weiss to take pause. “Ruby would find that to be a requirement of friendship?”

“Most would, my lady.” Glynda said, knowing that Weiss was not the typical person. She liked to be alone to her thoughts. She firmly believed that she didn’t need to share what ailed her with anyone. She rarely opened up, earning a reputation that preceded her. “It is a comfort, I think. To be able to share ones likes and dislikes so openly is a qualification for friendships of all sorts. If there were children to befriend I doubt she’d seek out someone so far older than herself.”

“The children of this fortress are no friends of hers.” Weiss replied. “They are sharks, whilst she is a minnow to be eaten alive.”

“Therefore, she seeks the kindness of an adult willing enough to amuse her childishness.” Glynda concluded. “Is that so terrible?”

“I have yet to decide.” Weiss said, knowing she was having her own problems understanding the Faunus in front of her.

For reasons she couldn’t quite explain, Blake was an interesting enigma. People tended to be quiet and subservient to her whims. As the lady of the lands, they were expected to take notice, or reap the penalties provided. Acting with decorum was the norm, as doing anything else tended to end poorly for the narrow-minded idiot that crossed her. These lessons were carried heavily in the fortress. If she spoke, her people obeyed. Women particularly were often incredibly mindful of their speech and actions.

This woman seemed not to care that Weiss owned the very land she stood on. That it was no falsehood or fabrication. Weiss really did own these lands. Stood upon them with a force never to be questioned, yet this woman dared to do so. She did it at every turn, willingly defiant, always to the point of infuriation. This Faunus didn’t seem to know the meaning of propriety. Didn’t care in the slightest even if she did.

Blake was more than happy to continue damning the concept of one’s station to hell and back again. Her mouth as free as the wind itself.

Yet there was something Weiss couldn't put aside. The night before had clung to her mind. It was intoxicating to think about, maddening to a degree. Weiss had to admit she found Blake attractive. She was nice to look at, even if only that. Their arguments proved stimulating for conversation, and she had to wonder at Blake’s sharp tongue. She spoke senselessly, but she wasn’t a mere buffoon. Her ideology was intriguing to say the least, but Weiss knew they might as well be from different worlds.

It was maddening to say the least.

* * *

It was in the lazy afternoon hours that Weiss received a thick stack of formalized recommendations of possible suitors. Her advisors collecting a great deal of suggestions, some of them not even within the fortress itself. The list spanned all eligible ladies of note, and it didn’t rightly matter if they shared homosexual tendencies or not. Most of these women would much rather a man at their side, a fact that Weiss only vaguely ruminated on before she decided that was the least of her concerns.

She needed a spouse able to raise proper offspring, love itself came a very distant second. She would only need a spouse who would tolerate her. That was the requirement. The needless frivolity of love was not needed. The concept would only bog her down, slow her decision. Emotional distance would not keep her from her path, and her chosen lady would rise to the station commanded of her. Yes, that would be the way of things. The way the world turned, as it had done since time began.

After all, Weiss doubted her attentions would be an insult. Even if the woman she chose had no interest in carnal desire of the lesbian variety, that didn’t rightly matter. The relic would be used anyway. Children would be made, and life would go on. It was simply pragmatic to follow the path set forth, to willingly deny love for the sake of immense authority.

To be a consort to these lands would provide the highest esteem. Her spouse would desire for nothing, and be provided anything her mind could conjure up. Women were raised to see the value in that, to know that generally there was no greater a station to aspire to. To be chosen would have been the greatest honor bestowed upon a family name. To tie the bonds that would echo across time itself for possible generations. Besides, so long as children were produced, there was no law saying that love itself couldn’t be found elsewhere.

If her own spouse denied her, she would simply find her joys in that of another. Living the life she had always planned on.

“These will do.” Weiss decided, looking up from the thick stack of names and accomplishments. “I am sure I shall be able to find someone noteworthy.”

“The meeting will move forward then?” James asked, only to confirm.

“I will thin down the stack, and we will assemble to discuss them.” Weiss said to him. “How is the planning for the feast going?”

“It is going as expected, my lady.” Glynda told her. “The noble ladies have not been informed just yet, though they are aware that this feast is more important than most. It will take place on schedule. When the moon is at its fullest and all the nobles have gathered. On that note, Ozpin will arrive soon from Vale’s boarders with an entourage. He will bring with him a few ladies from his own court. They have been included in the list so you may review them.”

“Wonderful.” Weiss replied. “Are there any more ladies from outside my own courts confines?”

“Just one, my lady.” James replied. “A woman from the Ironwood fortress, highly recommended.”

“This pleases me.” Weiss said softly, standing from her chair and crossing the room. “I have other business. You shall be dismissed until I have need of you.”

They bowed formally as Weiss took her leave. The two of them walking slowly down the hall in the opposite direction. They had other business as well. Either way, James could not ignore the thoughtful gleam in Glynda’s eyes. The way they shimmered behind the thin rims of her glasses. “Just what are you thinking about?”

“It isn’t anything of particular import.” Glynda said, brushing aside the question as they entered a small kitchen. It was for personal use, not that Weiss ever saw fit to use it. Glynda often utilized it instead, a fact Weiss never once complained about. "I am merely considering party planning, and I wished a hot cup of tea."

“Somehow I doubt that.” James said slowly as he took a seat at the table. “I know that look in your eyes, I’ve seen it often enough to know that something is amiss.”

“You’ve gone mad, James.”

“There’s a warmth there, but I can see that joy is shadowed by something sinister. You’re uneasy about something Glynda, and I mean to know just what exactly troubles you.”

“It is merely the timing, I suppose.” Glynda said, jar of tealeaves in hand, she set them off to the side, tending the burning embers that would warm the water. “I wonder how I’ll manage the gaggle the eligible women once word reaches their ears. I can imagine this news would cause something of an inglorious uproar.”

“Truly?”

“Well of course, James.” Glynda told him with a dryness that seemed older than her years. “It’s hardly the norm, so I feel the announcement will cause waves. The lady of the lands seeks out a woman, it is the first time that this fortress will stand under such an important arrangement.”

“Hmm, yes. We’ve had similar affairs of lesser standing. Though, I suppose this one is paramount, now isn’t it?”

“Our lady handles this with such a chilly disposition as well, it is a bit freighting to say the least.”

“So you say...” James grumbled softly.

With water set beside the hot coals to come to a boil, Glynda sighed. “This union will be interesting, I wonder how well it will be received by the eligible ladies.”

“I’d imagine most of them would be ecstatic.” James said with a shrug. “They’d have no reason not to be.”

Glynda merely smirked with a roll of her eyes. “It truly is amazing just how little you know of a woman’s heart.”

James took in the heavy weight of the statement. Still, he felt unmoved by it. “I think you worry over nothing. We’ve waited for years for this announcement. It would be very well-received I’d think, even if it is not the norm. One chosen lady will be very lucky, and I am sure she will be the envy of all who wanted her place instead.”

“This assumes, James, that she would want that place to begin with.” Glynda told him. “While it is true that noble ladies are raised strictly to think a certain way, we are often granted the desire to act within our emotions. Men of your caliber are not.” It was then that Glynda turned to him, hands folded neatly in front of her. “Our lady does not think like a true woman of these lands. Despite her pride as one, she is analytical to a fault. Emotion is something she completely disregards.”

“It is simply the way of it.” James replied. “Marriages of highborn nobles carry a very heavy obligation. It requires formality and decorum first and foremost. It is a ceremonious event, tying together the bloodlines that will bring forward the next generation. It is a momentous occasion, and it needs to be treated with every ounce of gravitas and respect one can afford of it.”

“There, you see?” Glynda said softly. “Gravitas, respect, you speak highly of the marriage, but not of the souls involved. Does that not seem a bit awry?”

“It isn’t that men don’t love, Glynda.” James groused out, shaking his head at length. “It’s that we understand our decisions cannot be made strictly from the heart. The mind needs to bear the weight of the choice. It is for the good of all peoples.”

“But the heart wants what it wants, and it is impossible to forget that, either.” Glynda told him sadly as she carefully lifted the pot of boiling water from the coals.

“Our lady doesn’t live by the beating of her own heart, and she never has.” James replied. “Yet, she will choose a fitting spouse, you’ll see.”

“Well I think your toxicity has blinded the lot of you. You noble lords and your posturing, she conforms to that twisted ideology because of you. Measuring your manhood and ironwills against that of a beating heart. Most men do not think this way, do not perceive the heart alone is pointless.” Glynda said, with a wave of her hand. “Look no further than others who hold a relic. Men who think as well as feel, completely capable to do both.”

“It is simply our way, as it has always been.” James replied. “That our lady thinks in such a way in the first place is fitting. Frankly, that is what allows her to achieve greatness.”

“Our lady must have a beating heart beneath her facade, I’m sure of that.” Glynda told him. “You’ve all encouraged her to crush it down, and so she has. Surely you see why this could be a problem?”

“It matters very little, even if she did.” James sighed. “She needs to choose someone and further the line. These are the Schnee lands, and if she provides no one to take her place it will be her greatest failing. The people are set in their ways, and they will look to a Schnee to rise to the occasion. Lord Whitley is not competent enough for the station. He would leave everything in disarray. If desperate enough, we may even turn to the betrayer. I don’t need to tell you how that would cause a great deal of unrest.”

“Still calling her that, are you? She has a name you know.” Glynda laughed as she placed the completed tea in front of James before taking a cup for herself. “You don’t have to pretend to hate Winter. Our most noble lady certainly doesn’t, why should you?”

James sighed anew, forcefully shoving the matter aside. “You miss the point entirely. Our lady is the middle sibling, she is surrounded by those ill-suited to maintain order. Still if something were to happen to her, our people would look to the bloodline just as they have always done. This is the logical path, Glynda. It is the way things should be.”

* * *

Weiss looked down at her meal, Ruby brimming with pride as her lesson went well. The fish that graced her plate had been freshly caught by the girl. It had been cooked by Ruby as well, much to the dismay of Glynda who saw the mess created in the private kitchen. It lacked the same finery of a royal dish, there were no sides or accompaniments. Just the fish laying on a bed of greenery and fresh spring water.

Still, Ruby ate it happily, and Weiss cut into her own meal as she looked to the Faunus seated beside her young ward. For Ruby’s sake it was imperative to make polite conversation, but so little came to mind.

Blake was dressed formally once again. A beautiful dress of midnight blue. A fine dusting surrounded her eyes, shaded ever so slightly in the same hue. A touch of gentle lipstick to color her lips. Elegant and refined. Weiss noted each small detail with approval, mindful to commend Glynda for her choice later. It was clear she had a hand in deciding the dress Blake would wear for the evening.

“Your garments particularly flatter you this evening, huntress.” Weiss replied gently. It was as fitting a conversation starter than anything.

“That’s nice of you to say.” Blake murmured. “Although I do prefer my combat garb.”

“Your garb is practical in the wilds, but it holds little value here.” Weiss said softly. “No one would think you to be a slayer of Grimm if they took sight of you as you are now. They may even mistake you for a noble.”

“I’d say that’s impossible.” Blake laughed a bit bitterly. “Given what I am, it’s easy to see I am not.”

“There are Faunus of import in other lands.” Weiss noted, because it seemed Blake had no idea. “It would be easy to mistake you as a lesser noble of a different court. We do not receive such guests here often, though I think the reason why goes without saying.”

Blake could have sworn she noticed a fleeting hint of kindness in the woman across from her. A gentle lilt beneath the cool monotone. Blake returned to her meal. She couldn’t bring herself to confirm that kindness. Part of her was afraid to. “Lady Glynda left it atop my bed for me. I didn’t decide to put this on randomly. It just doesn’t suit me.”

“I have decided that it most certainly does.” Weiss replied, because to her the sight was magnificent.

“We have to dress up for dinner.” Ruby said, toying with her fork. It was much to her keeper’s great dismay, but she was too focused on Blake to notice. “It’s a rule. There are a lot of those.”

“I see very little wrong in acting with decorum.” Weiss said. “Another rule is to not waggle your fork around like that, Ruby. You know this.”

“Sorry!” The girl squeaked, nearly shoving the fork directly into her meal so that she didn’t wave it around any further.

“Just refrain.” Weiss sighed before clearing her throat delicately. “Tell me huntress, has the splendor pleased you at all?”

Blake flinched at the question, lifting her eyes to those of icy blue. It was probably a simple question, all things considered. Even so, it left her void of words. “Um… I’m not sure what you mean by that.”

“The finery.” Weiss said, blunting her words and implication carefully. “I assume Glynda has seen to all that you need. You’ve wanted for nothing, correct?”

“I don’t need anything in particular.” Blake told her nervously, shyly finding herself with her breath caught in her throat. It was such an odd question. Why would this woman even care?

“So, you are prepared for your day in the arena.” Weiss concluded. “That is satisfactory.”

Blake felt as though she had been slapped. It seemed like Weiss wasn’t interested for her well-being at all. “I will be ready for it, but that’s due to my skill. It has nothing to do with anything you’ve provided.”

Weiss chose to withhold further statement because these insults were becoming common, expected.

“Arena?” Ruby perked up excitedly, the argument floating over her head entirely. She was nearly bouncing in her seat at the idea of watching Blake fight. “You’re going to fight a monster?!”

Blake only nodded, because that idea still stung at her.

“Yes, Ruby, she will fight a Grimm set to be slaughtered.” Weiss explained simply. “We will be in attendance to spectate the battle.”

“That’s so cool…” Ruby murmured in awe.

“I… I suppose it is.” Blake said, unsure what to think about that.

Weiss knew she would regret telling Ruby any of this. It was intolerable to allow her young mind to drift to the arena day. It was imperative to keep her nose in her books, exactly where it belonged. Betwixt her studies and above reproach. It was difficult to achieve those things when she wasn’t distracted. When she was, it was near impossible.

“Finish your meal, Ruby. You must return to your studies.” Weiss said, correcting the youth to her best efforts. “You will get ahead of them. If you are to sit in the arena on the Grimm's dying day, you must find the time.”

“Okay!” Ruby chirped happily, getting the point. No studying meant no arena. There had been times when Weiss had ripped the ticket out of her small hand personally. “My work will be done, you’ll see.”

“I will hold you to your word, Ruby. Do not forget, you have a poetry you’ve been ignoring.”

“I’ll finish it.”

Weiss merely glared softly. “It had not better not be written slovenly. I recall the last one scribbled on the page, such error won’t be made again.”

“Do you really enjoy watching the fights that much?” Blake found the need to ask.

“I love watching the fights. Only the best people get go in there.” Ruby nodded, cramming a mouth full of salad beyond her lips. Chomped down on it hastily, hardly chewing it, she swallowed it while nearly choking. Gulping down water, she finally managed to breathe anew. “Weiss says one day when I grow up, I’ll be an area champion too!”

“Ruby!” Weiss ordered harshly, the single word and demand in and of itself.

“Uh… Whoops?”

“Eat properly.” Weiss demanded irately. She lifted her own water to her lips before she gave a scolding she would ultimately regret. Setting it down with a soundless grace, she folded her napkin and placed her empty plate aside. “Ruby has a fondness to do battle against the Grimm. She has the bloodline to do it, and she is to be raised for that singular skill. It is part of her meticulous training that she views the matches. It will be good for her to watch a huntress like yourself slay the beast.”

Blake nodded, saying nothing to that as Ruby polished off her meal and went to her room. Glynda would be waiting there to continue the girl’s education just as she was every night after supper.

* * *

Now alone, Blake had though that she would be free to go back to her room. Instead Weiss seemed to insist they take evening tea in her office, and Blake was not able to decline. Sitting side by side, Weiss was so close. Too close for comfort, and Blake could almost feel that calculating gaze burning into her as the servants served the tea. Weiss dismissed them, leaving one to stand outside to be called upon at a moment’s notice.

It was easy to stare at the lemon floating in the cup. Easier at least, than meeting Weiss and her thoughts head on. There was a reason for this, wasn’t there? But what reason was it? Blake didn’t know, and couldn’t fathom a guess.

“The wilds have shaped you strangely, haven’t they?” Weiss murmured then, curious.

“I was raised in my father’s tribe as a child.” Blake told her. “It was a simple life, not anything like this.”

“Uncanny, considering you are a Belladonna.” Weiss replied. “If in fact you are one.”

“I am a Belladonna, and that’s the way it is. If you don’t want to believe that, it’s your own fault.” Blake bit out, because she’d never let that be called into question.

“Yet you only know of the Faunus from the tribes.” Weiss said thoughtfully, crossing one leg elegantly over the other and bringing her own tea to her lips. The pause pregnant between them until Weiss began to speak again. “I find it odd. You are not aware of the greater world. I would have thought Ghira would have seen to that. He was a carefully educated man in his own way.”

“My father died before my day of pilgrimage, and with the tribe gone there was no reason for me to take it.” Blake told her. “The wilds didn’t shape me. He did, it’s just that he never got the chance to finish my training.”

“I find that a pity.” Weiss said, cold honesty coming easily to her sensibilities. She truly did find it to be tragic, observing the fact with an icy calculation. “To be denied your rite of passage, it is a terrible thing. I would go so far as to suggest that I find it inconceivable.”

“Well, do yourself a favor and don’t think about it.” Blake said with a sigh. She didn’t like thinking about it either. “I’ve never left the Schnee lands, the other relic lands are too far for me to go to on my own. It didn’t end up mattering much. I found a new family, in a manner of speaking.”

“The matriarchal and patriarchal journeys are sacrosanct for the Faunus, are they not? The rite of passage that labels Faunus men and women of high standing among their people.”

“They are very important to us…”

“I’ve never much understood them, to be honest.” Weiss said then. “Many of the Faunus I know of do not partake. It must be exclusive to the tribes here in some way.”

“It’s Faunus tribal law, but the Faunus in the villages are run by humans. The villages don’t tend to put any importance on it.” Blake shrugged, bringing the tea to her lips. Maybe if she had going on her journey she’d know the principles of Faunus from other relic lands. Learning from them, and bringing home that knowledge. It didn’t matter. It wasn’t going to happen. “Did you know that sometimes families in the villages keep the custom anyway?”

“No, I was not made aware.”

“As you say, it’s sacrosanct. Many want to keep the tradition because it means so much to them.”

“Why have you not gone on yours? Is it that you do not see yourself as a woman of power?” Weiss wondered then. “Is that what keeps you from it?”

“You don’t get to decide your own journey, Weiss.” Blake told her, because Weiss acted like she didn’t even have a clue. “The chieftain of the tribe gives you a task you must complete. My chieftain died… my father…”

“Surely if you had joined another tribe-”

“No!” Blake bit out. “Don’t you see? I can’t do that. I can’t just forget what was taken from me, and I won’t turn my back on the only thing left I can do. I have to kill Salem, that’s a fact. I’d never be able to call myself a matriarch to my people if I can’t do that. My pride is the only thing I have left.”

“A noble ambition.” Weiss said slowly. There was a gumption in the Faunus woman. A fire in her. It was astounding. “You are a very beautiful woman, Blake. Although I sense you do not believe it. It is almost that you feel tainted by the corruption caused by the death of your people. As I said, that is a pity. Very much so.”

“Don’t look down on me like that.”

“I am certain there is for you a better path. Yes, I am sure one day you will come to see the nature of your burden.” In that, Weiss held firm. Blake Belladonna was by no means a noble. Yet, she was born with highest standing a Faunus in the area could ever achieve. Was it a crime to see the spark of greatness? Even if was so far lesser than her own, was it not a spark with its own value? “As a woman of your people, you must take notice of yourself. If you do not, you will not gain the notice of others. You should see your own loveliness, because you are rather pleasing to the eye when you allow yourself to be.”

“You don’t have to pretend to be nice to me.” Blake told her.

“I pretend nothing.” Weiss said with that snappishly cold tone once more. Her word was the way of these lands. She had been very direct, and yet the Faunus remained blind. How could that be possible? It was infuriating. “It is not kindness I speak, simply fact. You deny good sense. It has left you, as it seems to do when we exchange any words worthy of the air at all." She stood then, tea placed aside and forgotten. "You may return to your room, huntress. We are finished here.”

* * *

Blake didn’t sleep well that night. She had absolutely no appetite the next day when summoned for breakfast. She survived it only because Ruby was as good a distraction as any. The bright eyed and well rested child eager to begin more training. It was a balm to the chilliness that seemed to stab at her from across the table. Weiss was in a foul a mood as ever. Thankfully, Ruby gave her little time to dwell over it during breakfast.

No, it was during Ruby’s lessons that Blake found herself mentally conflicted. Today she was to teach the child how to sew cloth together.

Sadly, it became clear to Blake that she was not the seamstress her mother had been. She wasn’t nearly as good at minding a needle and thread, doing the task only when it had to be done. While her mother fancied herself the time and care of working the looms in the tribe, Blake had spent most of her days in other pursuits. Her stunted skills reflected in her teaching ability. Ruby was too happy to learn at all to really take notice.

While she watched Ruby work on the project, her mind was on Weiss Schnee. Blake was at a loss. Her time within these walls were becoming more than she had expected in all ways. Not all of them were particularly good to her sanity. Weiss was hard to understand in the best of times, and unmanageable at worst. The little girl was better company, delightful in her exuberance, but also very taxing. She was a high energy child, always restless and on the move.

Then there was the household itself. The few members Blake had meant seemed to speak about Weiss in favorable ways. Not an unkind word to pass by their lips. Blake wondered if that was just because it was expected, or if they truly felt that way. With Glynda it was hard to tell. The servants who warmed her bath didn’t a peep of anything negative. It was all too much.

Then there was the little matter of the Grimm she was tasked to slay. Ursa weren’t exactly difficult adversaries. That Weiss claimed this one to be particularly dangerous seemed outlandish. A perversion of any and all knowledge that Blake had come to expect from Ursa in the wilds. They were large, powerful, roared loudly enough to strike fear into villagers…but they were profoundly dumb by nature. A slobbering beast with no tact. Even elder Ursa that lived a long life were still dimwitted. At least, they were far more stupid than an elder Grimm of other species.

Unlike Beowolves that hunted in large packs with cunning and precision, Ursa were deadly due to their raw power. They didn’t have the numbers to launch ambush attacks, and were often too dumb to try. Even in small groups they rarely worked as one unit. As most were solitary and single minded, a group of Ursa gathered together rarely worked on a unified front. They were unlike Nevermore flocks and Beowolf packs for strictly that reason.

Due to their size they were slower, their bodies cumbersome, and Blake knew she would press that advantage. That wasn’t the issue. The Grimm would die, she was a huntress. That was her life and her job. She would have very willingly taken the mission if a village headman had asked her to. So many had come to her, seeking her help because they truly needed it. She never once turned down a plea for help. So long as it was in her power, she would do anything she could.

It was that truth that bothered her to the core. That she wasn’t asked. That it wasn’t because anyone needed help at all.

This was just another order. Another way to control her. Weiss Schnee thought her to be little more than an object. Property to be used. Certainly treated her that way, for reasons Blake just couldn’t wrap her head around. Weiss pried into personal details, questioned them, and then grew offended the moment Blake tried to end it. It was a maddening sort of manipulation, terrible for its perceived kindness.

It wasn’t really kindness it all, it was cruelty.

“Does this look right?” Ruby asked, pulling Blake from her twisting thoughts.

“Yes, that’s right. Now you’ll want to tie off the thread so the stitching doesn’t come undone.”

“How?”

“Here, you do it like this…” Blake said, taking the two small squares Ruby had messily fashioned together and tying the thread into a knot. Then Blake gave it back to the girl, smiling gently at the wide silver eyes that soaked up her attention like a sponge. “There you see? It isn’t so hard once you get used to it.”

“Oh…” Ruby said, nodding in understanding. “You know everything, don’t you?”

“Actually I don’t.” Blake said with a soft laugh, feeling lucky to have gotten used to the adoration of a child. The innocence of youth was a tender thing. Spending her days with Ilia had given her that practice, and she was thankful for it now. “I don’t think anyone can know how to do everything, but you never stop learning either.”

“Did I do a good job?”

“Yes, a very good job for a first try.”

Ruby lifted the fabric up to the light. “There are a lot of scrunches and holes…”

“It’s okay. It isn’t bad at all. You just need to practice. It takes a little time to get it completely right.”

It wasn’t awful for a first attempt, but it wasn’t serviceable either. In the Faunus tribe Ruby would have been instructed to pick out the stitches and practice all over again. She’d spend weeks perfecting her stitching before learning another task. With even scraps of cloth being reused and recycled nothing went to waste. Not even the squares and threat that children used to hone their skill. It seemed like the girl needed a little more bolstering and a thought came to mind.

“If you finish sewing up two other sides, you’ll make a pocket.” Blake told her. “You could put the flowers you pick inside so that you can make pretty wreaths from them later.”

“Can I really do that?”

“Sure you can, you just have to give it a try…”


	12. Chapter 12

** Dilectio  
Chapter 12 **

Word came to the fortress that Cinder’s forces were on the move. James took this knowledge and brought it to Weiss immediately, expecting swift action. Yet, she didn’t seem keen to make such hasty declarations of war. She didn’t even offer as much as a scowl at his report. She merely sat there and absorbed it. Council members sat on the edges of their seats, waiting for her utmost orders, but she seemed to have none.

“Lady Schnee?” James asked when the rest of the council dared not speak. “What of your orders?”

“My orders, what a quaint notion…” Weiss murmured thoughtfully, her words hushed against the thoughts in her mind. “You have something in mind, I take it.”

“I would advise that we act in retaliation, my lady.” James begged of her. “Our informants have made it clear that Cinder plans to make enemies of the Schnee line.”

“Your informants? Certainly.” Weiss told him. “Mine have not yet returned reasonable words of caution.”

“You have others?” James asked, somewhat surprised as Weiss sent him a withering look of disapproval. He sat up a little straighter in his chair, bristling a bit. “I mean, if I may be so bold as to ask, my lady…”

Weiss did not respond to this. She quietly took stock of those at the table. The long room filled with the most prominent households. Other nobles sat in front of her, many of them in well-respected stations. None of them as high as her own. Still, with war there was always the question of infiltration. She wondered if there was someone among them that needed to be vanquished, idly setting the wayward paranoia aside.

What, if anything, should she do?

Her council eagerly awaited her decision. They approached this carefully, leaving James to speak on behalf of them all, likely because the rest were too terrified to do it. It was a wise move, because she was not happy to hear the news. Displeased greatly by the idea that Cinder Fall would even think to march further in, or to lay eyes on the fortress itself. In truth she had already come to a decision, and only held this war council to appease the nobles and relax their perceptions. Easing their minds was the key to easing the minds of her people. Calm nobles provided a calm people who abided her.

It was merely effective governance, little else than a placebo. They might try to contort her whims, but they would fail. Her mind was never easily swayed in the first place. This unrest would spew outward like a sludge if she didn’t quell it now. So, a small headache and nod to their concerns was well worth the time it would take.

“My follows, lords within your rights, you seem unsettled.” Weiss replied, not only fanning their egos with nods to their own power, but soothing the shoulders of many with her address. “There are ears I’ve personally lowered to the ground. I await their perspective. Though, I might be inclined to ease your further worries if you were to speak them.”

“Personally, I see no reason to delay the inevitable, my lady.” Lord Winchester replied. “I have long felt we’ve been too kind to the traitors. That they march on these most prized lands is a grave insult. They ought to be put down.”

“I believe most of the council is in agreement to that.” James replied. “I think that Cinder has taken liberties upon which she must be punished. It’s a sign of weakness to allow her even the slightest courtesy.”

“I have chosen to be cautious.” Weiss replied, her voice measured and even. “It would be daft to mistake caution for courteousness, don’t you agree?”

James said nothing to that, gulping hard.

“Well, what is it James?” Weiss posed of him once more. “You do agree, don’t you?”

“I think the threat is an indication that we mustn’t let ourselves lose sight of situation.” James said to her. Trying his best to make his words as favorable as possible, though it was clear he firmly didn’t agree. “I think, in this we cannot let the malignancy such as the likes of Cinder Fall to darken your doorstep.”

“Are we so cowardly?” Weiss asked of her council. “She may try to darken my doorstep, but she would fail. It pays to consider every detail. Do you believe us so weak that we would crumble in the face her attacks?”

“By the gods, certainly not. However, I think the time is well upon us. I think you’d agree, my lady, that Cinder Fall is a blight.” Lord Winchester complained with a noisy huff. The length of his agitation clear as crystal. Unquestionable, and obvious. What he wished to do promised its own brand of complication. “She should be expunged.”

Weiss cast her gaze to the noble lord. He was a high ranking one, very well respected. A man who used to stand in service to her father. The news that Cinder Fall was trying to upheave the balance of power was no surprise to anyone, but least of all to him. He was an older man, greying with the times. His ideals had not changed a bit, and it was clear he still favored brute force over subtle power.

“Spilling blood is a costly thing, Lord Winchester.” Weiss reminded him. “Let us not forget that the tides of war would leave scars.”

“My lady, I feel I must agree with the others at this fine table.” Another man spoke it. This man was Lord Bronzewing, a man of middling station among the noble class. A find man of valor, a key on any warfront. Yet, he was of the same ilk as Lord Winchester. His bony behind clinging to his char the same way scum clung to aging and decayed rock. Foundational, but eventually rendered useless. “Cinder Fall schemes against us. That cannot be so easily ignored.”

“If I may interject, I am concerned at the timing of this.” Pyrrha Nikos murmured, the only other female at the table. Stationed at her place because her father was no longer able to uphold his seat. Now that she was the bodyguard of the Schnee line, it made sense to pass it on. It had fallen to her, and since this was her first meeting of noble minds deciding governance, she was at a loss. “I think no one denies that we have a very real danger upon us. However, I do wonder what Cinder expects to gain from invading now. I’d think-”

“The woman is so vile, it matters not what we think. It matters what is done of it.” Lord Winchester interrupted her, as if to brush her thoughts aside.

Weiss didn’t take kindly to that. He never would have dared to silence Lord Nikos, a man his equal. It was the fact the Pyrrha was a woman, a far younger one at that. Weiss was sure of it, and it burned her so greatly she didn’t keep the venom from her tone.

“Lord Winchester, you will offer the floor when Lady Nikos speaks, or so help you!” Weiss boomed in demand. If looks could have killed, he would have dropped dead that instant. She quieted her voice as alarm hit the nobles at the table. Her displeasure not to be toyed with today. “Do not make such a vast misstep again. No one here shall, not under my greatest authority. Now then, Lady Nikos, if you would please continue. I believe you had a point to make…”

“Yes, my lady.” Pyrrha said, picking up her thoughts effortlessly, as if they hadn’t been thoroughly trampled. “I’d think that something has shifted. Cinder could have come for war at any time, so why does she march now? I am brought to wonder, because in all of my studies I have never once come across stories of armies prevailing against relic lands."

"A rarity, but it has happened." Weiss said slowly, knowing those were details Pyrrha didn't have access to. Her position was too new to allow that just yet. "There are archives of Schnee family documents that detail lost warfronts."

"Small skirmishes, though, my lady. Those battles were lost willing, I'd wager. Arguably not worth the time to defend them." Pyrrha said, frowning as she thought of it. "The fortress is an entirely separate matter. Removed from that history, I'd imagine. Those boarders historically meant very little to us. The fortress is above reproach, it is our home. Surely, Cinder would know that too. If so, it would be suicide to try and invade... unless of course... I do not suggest this happily... yet I feel something has changed, but what?”

Weiss was not surprised that Pyrrha acted with the temperance expected of her. Her own parents were of sound mind and thoughtful platitudes. The fruit did not fall far from the tree. Weiss firmly believed that Lord Nikos was a very wise man. She favored him due to his pursuit of knowledge, and the length at which he'd educated his daughter. Pyrrha's upbringing had been utmost to him. In this, the lady of the lands had found a commonality in the lord. Respecting him profoundly for allowing his daughter the formalized tutelage usually reserved for sons.

The people had coined the lady of the lands an outlier. Had always firmly thought that she was lighting captured in a bottle. Lord Nikos was one of the few who didn't think that way. That Pyrrha sat here now was proof of his efforts. That his beliefs were factual. Women could be educated to positions of great power. Being female did not immediately disqualify someone of greatness. It made Weiss believe she stood a chance at upending this blindly devout system of patriarchal prestige.

“Precisely the question I have, and have not yet answered to my liking.” Weiss agreed softly. “This is the reason I have other informants acting out my whims. Declaring war seems a vicious act when we have no idea what exactly has changed the tides. I demand restraint in this matter, because I need to know just what I am to face.”

“My lady, should I assemble the other generals, or perhaps send word to the bearers of other relics?” James asked her.

“No, you shall not.” Weiss replied, looking to the table. The several handfuls of men murmured among themselves. She wasn’t in the mood to amuse that any farther. The rampant speculation didn’t offer any peace of mind at all. “We shall deal with Cinder Fall, make no mistake in that. However, we will not cause unmitigated destruction merely because her ilk sticks in our collective craws. We will continue our fortifications as a measure of safety, but that is all we will do until I have the information I seek. That is all.”

* * *

“She bides her time, and for what?” Lord Winchester asked, slamming his hand upon the table. “To delay the inevitable, I tell you!”

“Perhaps so, but they are her orders to bring to bear, and we must honor them.” James replied smoothly. “I’d think it wise to keep our mouths shut about this. She knows our unease, and that is as far as I’d personally dare to make my opinion known.”

“Then you sir, are a coward."

"So says the man that has never once marched for war."

"Our late lord would not sit idly by. Any man worth his salt wouldn't dream of it."

"She is no man, Lord Winchester. Yet I would argue she is more valiant in her leadership than he ever was. I don't make a habit to speak ill of the dead, but he never left the confines of protection, and refused to reject comfort. Our lady often surveys the lands on her own. No threat keeps her still, or strikes fear into her to the point of subjugation."

"Our lady lacks resolve..."

"Dare you cross her?" James asked, because Weiss wouldn't bend to anyone thoughtlessly. "Compliance is mandatory.”

"What good can waiting do, James?” Lord Winchester asked, feeling a slight pain upon his person for the harsh rebuke earned only a few hours earlier. The noblest of ladies had been very displeased with him. She would carry that personal grievance for days. It agitated him, because he would not be favorable for the time being. He would need to find some way to earn her grace again. He sighed at length. “I do not understand. It isn’t like the Schnee family line to wait things out when effective action can be taken. Hell, it should be obvious what must be done...”

“Lady Schnee has her reasons, I’m sure.” James said as he and a few others sat at the table. The large room mostly emptied out when the meeting concluded. Only a few men remained, and all of them were dissatisfied. The reasons were mixed, complicated, but none of them were happy with order to sit and wait. James wasn't happy either, but he had faith. “She isn’t apt to explain them at length, but she does have them."

“Reasons? Cinder is making a mockery out of all of us. We have only one logical conclusion.” The man said in return. “The Fall’s have always been the brazen sort. They’ve been that way for years. We should have ruined them when we had the chance.”

“There was no need at the time.” James said. "That has changed, she wants to know why..."

“Yet what Lady Niko’s said holds true.” Lord Ebi sighed at length. He had only sat at this table for a handful of years, but it was long enough to know that Weiss was nothing like her father. That she saw things differently, took precautions to further her ambitions with every graceful act. “Cinder Fall is no fool, even if it seems that she is. Inaction is worrisome to me as well, but it because she sees a looming threat in this.”

“Don’t give the thought the time of day, Clover. You’ll grow old before your time.” Lord Winchester said to the younger man beside him. “The likes of Cinder Fall needs no hesitation or caution. She could easily be extinguished.”

“I’m inclined to disagree.” Lord Ebi murmured, a hand held up to rest his chin. “A risk like this seems like an odd one. No one would pursue relic lands unless they think they’d be able to win in a fight. If the rumors are true that they’re after the newborn prince in the north, why pass through here? I’d think we’re right to assume they’re going to come for this fortress first. The only question is, why? For the relic or something else?”

“Or someone, you mean…” A voice that had stayed deadly quiet finally spoke for the first time all day. “I’d place my bets they’re up to no good. It doesn’t really matter why. Those assholes come through here, I’ll kill them. It’s that simple, really.”

“Qrow, please…” James sighed. “The last think we need is more of your dooms day talk.”

“Hey, you see the shit I’ve seen, you know it when you see it.” Qrow muttered darkly. “You become like a bloodhound that way…”

“Every single time something is amiss, you throw your hands up and declare Salem is close at hand.” James shot back. “It doesn’t matter the issue, in your mind it is always Salem. She is not our current foe, and you should not have been called to the meeting.”

“If it pissed you off so much, take it up with Weiss.” Qrow said with a shrug. “I call it like I see it. This reeks of foul play, no doubt on that. I’d bet you my left ballsack that Weiss has my sister keeping an eye on things. Winter too, I’d bet the right one on that.”

“That is Lady Schnee to you!” Lord Winchester demanded. “Denigrate filth. How low can you stoop?”

Middle finger upraised, Qrow merely eyed him. “Sit and spin, Winchester.”

“That’s enough! It doesn’t do any good to fight amongst ourselves.” Lord Ebi retorted harshly, standing from his seat to impose his own thoughts. Lord Winchester could drive him to the brink of insanity. The man was no war hero, but spoke of battle as if he knew its nature. It disgusted him. "We gather to speak in the best interest of these relic lands. Yet you sit here, pissing and moaning at every turn, Lord Winchester. I'm losing temperance." At this he fell back into his chair, rubbing his eyes. Slowly he looked at Qrow kindly, a hand reaching out to him to offer the lonely man what little comfort he could provide. “No harm will come to the fortress or to Ruby, you can be sure of that. Be it Cinder Fall or Salem herself, neither would succeed.”

“You don’t know that, Clover. The reason I’m called to meetings like this is because I’ve actually seen Salem. I know the things she’s capable of, and you’d think like me too if you knew.” Qrow told him, feeling that nothing was a guarantee. “You weren’t there to see her attack the silver eyed warrior. It was a bloodbath then, and if you idiots start shouting for war she’ll come back. If she does, it’ll be another bloodbath now.”

"I have heard enough for now." James said. "I have recruits to train."

* * *

Glynda was told to provide for Blake’s every need. That Blake requested use of the training grounds was a strange thing, but Glynda had not questioned why. Instead, she had escorted the huntress to the grounds properly. “Here we are huntress, the formal grounds used by only the noblest of huntsmen and huntresses among us. Will this suffice to your needs?”

Blake didn’t need to look far to know that it would be perfect. “Yes, I’ll be training here for a few hours if that’s alright with you.”

“Certainly, so long as General James Ironwood presides over the training, no one shall bother you.” Glynda bowed. “I will take my leave of you here. When you are ready to return to your room, speak to that man over there. He is the most prized general of this fortress. He will escort you back, or assign someone to do it.”

“Thank you.” Blake said as Glynda left to her the open training yard.

Blake took sight of the huntsman and huntresses dressed elaborately. A large number of them covered the yard, practicing and doing battle with one another. Some were in the midst of semblance training, while others took up arms and sparred fiercely. No small few stopped to gawk at the Faunus woman among them, but a loud and booming command of their general demanded they return to their work.

At first Blake only spectated a few of the matches. Her eyes exploring the grounds kept immaculate despite the clear and constant fighting that should have ruined the training yard entirely. Impossibly, it still kept its beauty. Though her weapon was at her back, Blake began with a warm-up. Doing a series of stretches before taking off in a sprint. Doing laps around the space, she continued to occasionally glance at the battles taking place. All the while marveling at the skill in front of her. It was only after her third lap that she began to call upon her semblance, using it to pull clones from deep within herself and manifest them outwardly into the open. The routine gave her a few several more laps before she paused for a break.

She knelt to the ground to rest for a mere moment. Testing her aura and examining it. She wasn't at ease in the fortress. Her aura had been worked hard and long by her constant use of it while she slept. It needed to be in top form, and some meditation might do her some good. A shadow blocked the sun from around her. She already knew the person lingering there. The shadow itself a near icon of the woman who owned it. “What do you want now?”

“From you, I want nothing.”

“Yet here you are.”

“Indeed.” Weiss replied softly. “I could not help but notice that you were semblance training. Though I have to wonder what good it will do you? The clones seem to be made of air.”

“In manner of speaking.” Blake said.

“You do not plan to use such a worthless semblance in the arena, now do you?” Weiss wondered softly.

“So what if I do?” Blake asked her. “They’re good for distraction.”

“Yet, they are paper thin. You could call upon countless of them, but they would dissipate once touched by the looks of it. I have never seen a Grimm die from exhaustion before.” Weiss replied, finding the thought amusing. If only they were so easy to kill. “Do not tell me you plan to slay it that way. It would take an eternity or kill you first…”

“I’ll kill it however way I want to.” Blake shot back. “So long as I kill it, it shouldn’t matter to you how it’s done. What are you even doing here, anyway?”

“The same as yourself, I’d suspect.” Weiss said then, beginning to walk across the training yard to exert her own skill in battle. “If your method of training works for you, suit yourself. Ruby will require you again at supper, do not be late.”

* * *

Ilia’s condition was not improving, but it didn’t seem to be getting worse, either. Yang was exhausted, incredibly so. Winter had dragged her away from the tent Ilia stayed in. Instead, she took Yang to her own and forced her to lay down and rest. They laid side by side, and Winter was very well aware of every soft breath Yang made. The curves of her body, how that impossible strength within her seem to yield. One hand atop Yang’s hip, she couldn’t ignore the way Yang’s legs tangled with her own. Skin upon skin and yet not nearly enough because cloth still got in the way where it most mattered.

It was stifling, but then, everything about loving Yang could be that way.

Winter wanted to soothe that pained lilac expression. Wanted to chase away the glum look in Yang’s eyes, the weaknesses there confined with the tears that would no longer fall. The worry she stopped speaking about, keeping her withdrawn. It was all too awful to witness. The tight feeling of possessiveness that Winter had never thought to question stabbed her. She felt it more strongly than ever before.

In this moment, she was at a loss for how to mend anything. Knowing it was likely impossible, because until Ilia recovered there would be no solution. Feeling so useless was enough to upend her emotions. As though she would lose what little grasp she had on what might be called composure. Winter didn't know what do to about that. Yang was probably the only person that had truly accepted every one of her faults, this one included. Most everyone tended to see her as a Schnee first and foremost.

Betrayer of the fortress or mere bandit, both suited her to a degree. She was both of those things. Those titles modified her old family name, darkened it, sullied it. Both sinister, neither of them giving her comfort. No ounce of respite, no pride, no honor against the harsh realities she had come to live by. That was aright, it was her burden. She'd made choices, and consequences came with them. Winter didn’t blame anyone for looking down on her. It was sensible. If she were an observer looking in, she would likely have come to similar conclusions.

From the perspective of the fortress, she’d earned their hate. She turned her back on them. Forwent the title that should have been hers, leaving it to her younger sibling. She’d left them, unknowing at the time if Weiss was truly up to the task. Leaving when the question of succession fell upon all three sibling, without particularly minding even if Weiss proved herself a failure. The villages had no reason to accept her either, not as the bandit she became. At Raven's order, her blade could be turned on them in an instant. Who knew how long this uneasy peace would really last, anyway?

Yang was the only light to any of it. The younger woman made the days pass by a little easier. She probably didn’t know it, likely wouldn’t take the credit even if she did. Either way, it was impossible to bury the truth. For Winter even just holding Yang like this was significant. It gave her meaning, and so little else could.

“What are you thinking about?” Yang asked, voice cracking.

“It’s nothing of import.”

“Really?”

“Hmm, nothing that can’t wait.”

Yang nodded, accepting that. Winter could be intense sometimes, hard to read. This was once such moment, and Yang couldn’t make the mental leap. If Winter said there was nothing wrong, Yang would believe that.

“I am more concerned about you.” Winter replied, reaching out to lay a hand on Yang’s cheek. “Are you alright?”

“As much as I can be.” Yang told her.

Of course, this meant she wasn’t alright at all. Far from it.

A gentle kiss. That was all Winter had wanted it to be. A warm intention, a means of comfort.

The kiss was nothing of the sort, because rational thought was lost to the desperate act of getting Yang to look anything other than broken. Heart slowly shattering piece by precious piece because everything she held dear was always taken from her. Winter couldn’t help the way her hand slid up long legs. Yang’s skin warm beneath her palm. Toned muscle flexing beneath that soft skin. Carefully manicured nails, always kept that way by force of habit bit into that flesh ever so slightly. Just enough to feel a welcoming tremble as Yang adjusted beneath her.

As one kiss became two, and tongues began to tangle in wordless agreeance, Winter’s hand wandered further. Up the ratty men's shorts that Yang unfathomably called sleeping attire. It was more than she could handle. Far beyond what she could deal with, because this was far more than she had ever allowed herself. Yang was willing, too. Accepting her advance, and meeting it with wordless requests of her own.

But this was wrong.

So utterly, completely wrong.

Winter pulled away with a harsh gasp because she would never take Yang this way. Not now. Never like this. That she even considered it at all, even in the back of her mind was unthinkable. She couldn’t, not while Yang was so upset. Completely at the mercy of anyone and anything that might distract her. Yang never could swallow down the pain of possibly loosing another person. That limbo tortured her. Taking Yang in this moment would have never sat well in the aftermath. It would have been inexcusable beyond belief.

A shuttering sigh fell passed Winter’s lips, a newfound anger burning brightly in the place of lust. She wasn’t going to be this kind of monster. Not now, not ever.

That self-inflicted anger at least brought some molecule of clarity. Stopping had been the right choice. It pissed her off even more to realize that, but the truth was clear as lust faded. It was a step too far, in all the worst ways. Yang was in no position to consent or comply towards any mutually beneficial gratification. Winter was older, wiser, and expected better of herself. She knew better than to take an approval that Yang couldn’t actually give.

It might have been heavenly, but the cost wasn’t a price Winter would ever willingly pay. She refused to think of what might happen if Yang would come to resent her for it.

“Winter?” Yang breathed. “Did I do something wrong?”

“No.” Winter said more sternly than she had wished to. Biting the word off like a hunk of a glacier. Letting out another breath and cursing herself for her own idiocy, she looked to the woman she had almost taken. Fucked on the bed like some heartless, horny lunatic. Yang deserved better than that. “No Yang, you didn’t.”

“Then, why’d you stop?”

“Because we can’t continue on like this.” Winter sighed, she didn’t expect Yang to understand. Schnee and bandits were alike in one very particular way. They always took what they wanted. It was theirs, no matter who gave a damn. No matter who it hurt, or what damaged it caused. “I shouldn’t have done it to begin with.”

“I didn’t want you to stop…”

“It doesn’t matter.” Winter said firmly. “It wasn’t right.”

“You’re just saying that because you’re a bandit and I’m not, aren’t you?” Yang said, gathering herself together as best she could.

“Yes.” Winter said gravely, because it was factual. She was a bandit, and bandits were known for irreprehensible things. She may be one of Raven’s fold, but gods help her, she had her pride. She couldn’t toss that aside. “It is.”

“It’s because of my mom, isn’t it? No matter what we want, you’re always going to listen to her, aren’t you?”

“It’s because of a lot of things.” Winter said coldly, hating every terrible memory of the fortress. The advantages people took when they thought no one would care. Knowing without question a lot of bandits took the same liberties. Using people for sexual gain. It was sick, deranged to a point, but that was the muddiness of life. Bandits were outlaws and outliers. They didn't fit the mold of upstanding propriety. They never would. She replaced being a Schnee with something just as terrible. It suited her better to be a bandit, but there was blood on her hands either way. “Just be happy that there’s no way you could ever understand and leave it at that.”

* * *

Another dinner passed by, but Weiss did not make the same error a second time. She quickly dismissed the Faunus as soon as the meal concluded. In truth a great deal weighed on her mind. From her elder sibling’s merciless accusations to Blake’s own strange tendencies, Weiss was compelled to wonder at length about her path in life. She had a list of failings, but for so long she had felt her handling of Ruby was not one of them.

It was a difficult matter to be sure. However, it was one she navigated as best as she could. Dare she even claim it was so far successful? Was that short sighted?

Many presumed she acted out of spite. That she kept the girl from her family for some sort of sick and twisted pleasure. As if she wanted the girl, or her family, to suffer. It was such a needless thing. Torment solved nothing. The matter was complex, and Winter was not faultless either.

Winter left, turning her back on the fortress, on the Schnee lands themselves. Weiss had been a particularly young ruler when she claimed the lands as her own. Given a number of people far larger than she knew to command. On top of this, Salem threated every turn, and murmurs spread wide in the fortress. Her people fearful that Weiss would not be suitable as a ruler. At the time, she couldn’t afford to think of others, she had an entire population to protect and preside over.

Weiss clung to the power of the relic with an iron grip. Used force to subdue the uprisings. Things were going well, she thought. Then the one unquestionable strength the land had, Summer Rose, had been brutally injured. Attacked just a few weeks after giving birth, unable to do battle to her fullest capacity. It was a small miracle the mother and her baby arrived to the fortress at all. Qrow Branwen holding the woman’s bloodied body looking no better himself. Leaving her in the care of the fortress, he went back out to fight, narrowly surviving.

That her armies beat back Salem at all that night had been a nearly impossible feat. Summer managing to cripple the mother of all Grimm enough to make that possible. Salem retreated, but Summer Rose was a grave loss. Still, one fact became indisputable. There was indeed a ruler to these lands, and Weiss Schnee would not relinquish it to anyone. The medics had done everything they could, but saving Summer Rose proved impossible. The promise was all Weiss had left, Ruby the only proof at all that she had even made it to begin with.

“Weiss, can I go see Blake before bed?” Ruby asked curiously.

“Why would you need to do so?” Weiss asked in return. That request was so confusing, even now.

“I want her to read to me tonight, instead of Glynda.”

“That is unlikely. If you were to visit her rooms, you’d likely find them empty.”

“Oh, but why wouldn’t she be there?”

“I believe the huntress has plans to visit the training grounds once more. It is a requirement to hone her skills if she wishes to perform well in the arena.”

“Is she going to stay here forever?”

Weiss bristled at the question. It was so innocently asked as Ruby’s beloved sweet treat finally arrived from the full kitchens deep in the wings. The cake was placed in front of her, but Ruby seemed far more interested in the answer to her question. Weiss could only offer a question of her own. “Do you want her to?”

“Yes.” Ruby said with a nod, grasping for the fork on the table. “She’s so nice, and she teaches me a lot of things. I made a pocket today and learned how to make a spear out of a long stick!” As she stabbed into her cake the words that followed were just afterthoughts. “Glynda doesn’t teach me that stuff.”

“I could order her to do so…”

“But…” Ruby trailed off thinking, her forehead furrowing. “It’s not the same.”

“It would be, I would demand it.”

“It wouldn’t be fun...” Ruby said with a shake of her head. “She doesn’t play with me like Blake does. We went swimming today, she taught me how to float. I liked that too. Glynda says I shouldn’t swim in the lakes because they’re muddy.”

“Ruby, the faunus has a home to go back to.” Weiss replied slowly. “She can’t stay here.”

“I’ll miss her if she goes…”

“Would you rather live among the bandits, Ruby?”

“Bandits…?” The girl asked fearfully. Rightfully so.

Ruby knew very little of the outside world. For several years of her life she had been locked away and sequestered from any danger. Those first few years were hell, unmitigated in every way possible. Attempts on her life were made by many. The peoples of the fortress believed if Ruby was killed, Salem would have no reason to return. It was short sighted. No one knew why Salem even walked the Schnee lands to begin with. No one had a clue what she wanted. It took a long time before that dust settled, and Weiss still prepared for the worst of intentions.

If that was not all, Yang made more than one attempt to reclaim her sibling. In doing so, she had unknowingly become Ruby’s worst nightmare. The girl having no idea that Yang’s actions were made with the best of intentions. Short sighted as they were, Ruby thought her family to be dangerous people. That they were no family at all. Factually, she wasn’t wrong. The murmurs of the fortress made certain that mentions of bandits was the selfsame as nightmare fuel.

Weiss sighed lightly. There would come a time when Ruby would learn the truth. Blake’s involvement promised it would be sooner rather than later. “Yes, Ruby, the bandits. You are too young to recall, but when you were a baby you lived a life in the wilds. You would live between two homes. A village, and the bandit camp. You are related in a way to the bandits, and as I understand you were celebrated when you were born. That girl you like so much, she frequents the camp. You’d see her more if you were to live there.”

“Live there?” Ruby poked at her cake, taking another bite as chocolate frosting clung to the side of her lips. “You mean with the mean lady with the big sword?”

Weiss did her best not to impart her own opinion, because that was an apt description. Raven was far from kind, never particularly gentle. Weiss never once thought herself a caring woman, but Raven was on a completely different level. There was no question she’d raise Ruby into a killer, and perhaps not only for the Grimm.

“Her name is Raven.” Weiss corrected. “She was keen to look after you. If you wished to live among the bandits, Raven would see to your care. I thought it would be best to keep you here, but if you would prefer to spend your days with the Faunus, I would not keep you by force…”

“But… I don’t want to go...” Ruby wilted sadly, sniffling. Her cake forgotten entirely. Faced with the thought of leaving, she no longer wanted it. “Please don’t make me go!”

“Hush.” Weiss said, partaking the napkin and removing the frosting. Pulling away from that single act became fruitless. Ruby clung to her, because this fortress was all she knew. The lady of the lands the only one she could call family, if that word even applied at all.

“Bandits are bad people! You said so!” Ruby shouted, causing even Weiss to wince. “Was I bad? I won’t be bad anymore, I promise! I’ll take my baths. I won’t rip my dresses. I’ll eat right. I won’t be a monster anymore!”

“Ruby hush now, I command it!” Weiss barked, the order hushing the panic into little more than a litany of sobs. “It was merely a question. I have no intention of sending you away from me.”

“I don’t want to go…” Ruby said, understanding one tiny detail. Her young mind able to put that puzzle together, and it terrified her. Weiss would never have suggested it if she hadn’t thought about it.

“Therefore, you will not.” Weiss said, a simple hand gesture coaxing the fearful eight year old from her seat. Ruby came all too willingly to her side. That alone was evidence enough. Outsiders knew nothing. The continued proclamations Winter made were completely useless. Her heart bled for Yang, but her mind failed to see good reason. Raven saw it, Qrow saw it, even Taiyang preposterous as he was, saw it. Ruby's place was here, as Summer Rose wished. “You will stay Ruby. I promise, I would not decide otherwise.”

In this, Weiss was sure of her decision. That it had not been made in vain. It was not perfect, not by far. There were issues, difficulties, complications of all kinds. Yet it was Ruby’s desire to stay among the fortress. Her keeper decided by a long ago promise. A promise that it seemed was not made to be broken, not for anything. Ruby was bound to her now. No matter what anyone thought of it, it was not their place to call it into question.

The only minds that could make the choice stood firm in the decision. Ruby wanted this. Her newfound friendship in Blake Belladonna was not enough to change that. To Weiss it was final. She would keep her promise, just as she always had.


	13. Chapter 13

** Dilectio  
Chapter 13 **

The next morning, Weiss once again went to the training grounds. She found Blake there, looking up at the magnificent stone structure that had rested there for generations. Weiss wondered what Blake could be thinking while gazing up at the gigantic snowflake. Was she impressed by its image, or repulsed by its implication? Weiss edged closer, noticing the flick of Blake’s ears. Aware of the presence standing behind her.

“I’ve been meaning to ask, but what is this stupid thing?”

“I thought that would be obvious.”

“I know it’s the Schnee family crest. What I don’t understand is why it’s here of all places. I can’t read the words."

"Do not feel poorly, many women do not know how to read." 

"I can read common tests." Blake said, eyes rolling in annoyance. "I can't read this because it isn't used. It’s an old language. I saw words like this in your library as well.” Blake replied, arms crossed as she considered the lettering she couldn’t pronounce. “I can imagine people speak this anymore, let alone read it.”

“Nobles are well educated in the old texts. It’s imperative that we’re able to read them. Many of our ancient laws lost to time aren’t translated. The historical texts are kept in their proper form, untouched so they may be viewed as they were intended.”

“It also keeps those texts out of the hands of the poor and mistreated. Villages may need them, but if they aren’t translated they can’t be utilized.” Blake said softly, finding it just another barrier between those with power and those with none.

“The common people have no need of those texts, only a few people would at any given moment.” Weiss told her, thinking to the content that needed to be protected by unsavory hands. “They’re maiden law, principles and rules that the ceremonial maidens must live by. The common people would have no use for it, as it does not hold any sway over them at all. Unless, of course, they intended to force the maiden to do something forbidden.”

“You act like that’s happened before.”

“It has, which is why we do not translate them. I’m sure you know the stories, they’re merely that. The true history itself is rather dark indeed, scrubbed from the public because they do not need to understand the relic’s power. It is dangerous enough that we of the highest station comprehend it.”

“Is it really such a deadly thing ?"

"It could be."

"I don't think knowledge must be kept from the wider world...”

To put it simply, yes it needs to be withheld.” Weiss replied. “Each of the four relic lands are the birthplaces of the maidens. It was said that before the rise of the kingdoms the maiden of the land protected the peoples. Humanity itself is a fickle thing, and when the kingdoms were founded they did not last long. War was the ultimatum. Due to this, maidens retaliated, casting the world into darkness because the gifts they gave us were misused. That is what rests in the historical texts, and it is best kept strictly as history."

"I thought that was just folklore."

"Let this monument say otherwise." Weiss replied slowly. Casting her gaze up to it. "It is here that the first winter maiden died. She is the oldest Schnee archived in history, and the rest of my bloodline hails from her. The crest is proof of that.”

"You, a descendant of a maiden, it sounds like a lot of hog wash to me…”

“I once believed that myself, but there is truth to it. The maidens were reborn of course, but they didn’t understand their power, or where it came from. It was long ago believed the maiden would reincarnate into the line by blood. For a few generations, it certainly did. Sadly, time proved that the powers of a maiden are more subtle than that. The extend of their powers are not understood. The texts in question are written works from the maidens themselves. What they’ve learned, the insight they hold. Every winter maiden chronicles her time, her thoughts, and the world in which she lives."

"Oh, come on... you don't really believe that, do you?

"What I have seen cannot be denied." Weiss said softly. "The texts are not meant for the public, they’re personal. Intended only for the woman that inherits the power. It is imperative the maiden devotes her time to study those texts and write her own. The relic holders read them as well, however that is so we too may be educated in the relic's danger.”

Blake thought on that, it had to be a lonely life. One that took away more than it gave in return. The women in question no more than sacrificial lambs. “All I can say is, if I had ever been a maiden, I’d become very bitter. That sounds like no life to lead at all.”

“I can’t speak for all of them, but the current winter maiden doesn’t hate her place in the world, doesn’t grudge it even slightly.” Weiss took a breath then, pondering why that might be. She came up short. “Besides, one does not need a maiden to utilize the relic to some degree. Otherwise that water I gave to your friend would have been impossible to acquire. It is ancient law that maidens are not permitted to use their relics. They have godlike powers, and therefore they are not to interfere with the struggles of mankind.”

“I guess you may be right, but it sounds like misplaced trust at best…”

“You do not have faith in the maidens that reside among us?”

“I do, I just don’t know if I think they’re good people or not. I’ve never met one.”

“I have, and I can tell you it entirely depends on the person holding the power. The Schnee lands belong to the winter maiden, and therefore the maiden resides here in this fortress. Should there ever be need of her, she will rise to the occasion. Though, nowadays being a maiden is a purely ceremonial position. To use them for the sake of conquest is what destroyed the old kingdoms in the first place. I’d like to think we have learned from that mistake.”

“I wouldn’t if I were you.” Blake said then. “People are selfish, and history repeats. If that power fell into the wrong hands…”

“It would be doubtful that such a thing would occur in our lifetime.” Weiss told her. “The keepers of the relic lands are tightly bound together. We have little desire for war amongst ourselves. If that were to happen, it would be in the hands of the next generation. It’s hardly my concern. By that time, I’d be long dead.”

“You seem pretty damn sure of that…”

“My relic is that of creation. It is a formidable power, but not everything you see before you is because of it. Rather, it is in spite of it. Particularly considering who once ruled these lands before me. You would do well to understand the current holders of the relics are those of giants. We use them because we do not have complete control like maidens do. If we misused them, the relics recoil upon us. A maiden in possession of a relic would not have that same measure of balance in place.”

“But the maiden could take that relic at any time, couldn’t they?”

“A maiden must be peaceful. She cannot interfere with mankind. She can guide vaguely when asked, but never govern. These are their foremost laws. It takes years for their powers to mature.” Weiss said softly, because that was a darkness she care not to think about. “If the maiden proves unworthy for any reason at all, she is executed before damage can be done. Few maidens are allowed to fully mature into her powers, because as you say we cannot misplace our trust.”

Weiss crossed the field then, fully intending to put her training to use. Her appearance was a common one to the hunters and huntresses of the fortress. She graced them often with her impressive feats of skill, and today was simply one of those days. She commanded three of the women to fit her with the garb suited for the task. She was undressed to the undergarments hastily, and fitted resplendently in a white silken kimono with the Schnee crest upon her back.

Blake watched from afar as the usual sword she used for combat was replaced with a finely crafted katana. It was then that Weiss began a perfect kata. Her slender form wielding her weapon with precision and grace that Blake had only seen one other person do before. Blake could only swallow hard at the sight. Magnificent and deadly. Her swordplay not unlike Raven’s own. Few could match the leader of the bandit tribe, but Weiss looked as if she could.

Winter had once told her that Schnee’s were adept in swordplay of many forms. That they were forced to train young and constantly. Blake had thought it to be an overblown fabrication, but now she knew Winter spoke the truth. This was the first time Blake had witnessed anything like it. Weiss was famed as fencer, but the way she carried herself, one might never assume she was a fencer at all.

It was as breathtaking as it was terrifying.

* * *

It was in the lonesome afternoon between lunch and meetings that Weiss found herself standing in front of the relic once. Dressed in little more than a ceremonial robe, she divested herself of any clothing. It would simply be shredded due to the relic’s unfathomable power. Only the maidens could control a relic, and she was void of that control. Hand outstretched to the glowing spectacle sitting atop the pedestal, Weiss called her aura, a requirement to interact with the object, once again changing her form.

It was a risk, because the relic could decide to backfire. Choose to destroy rather than to create anything. Weiss trusted the relic, despite the fact that she couldn’t command the mysterious object. It usually favored her. Generally heeding her requests of it. She closed her eyes and called aura at her fingertips, she called out to the relic once more. Just like every time she did it, all she felt was a surge of power rushing through her. A blink of an eye and it was gone. Instantaneous, impossibly so.

Also like every other time, she thought she would grow accustomed to its power and to the new form that was not made in her image. She need only look down to notice the flaccid length sitting there. Despite the fact that she called upon the relic to do this, her heart clenched each and every time. This was not who she was meant to be, not who she was as a person.

“My lady, are you quite alright?” Glynda asked with concern.

“I’m perfectly fine.” Weiss said sternly. “The relic did not recoil.”

Glynda sighed, that was not what she had asked about. “I have brought you the clothing you requested.”

“Leave it aside and call Pyrrha to wait for me in the library.” Weiss commanded. “Do not linger here.”

As Glynda left, Weiss bit the inside of her cheek.

She hated this, forcing herself to come to grips with this means to an end. A hand drifting down to inspect the manhood now adorned upon the rest of her feminine body. She idly questioned its flaccid length, and the tender sack beneath it. Wondered if it was useful enough to produce apt seed. It was a bit smaller than others she had seen in passing. Then again, she was small in all dimensions. She didn’t have the height or build that a man might have. She would have looked even more absurd if it was impossibly large for her figure.

She had no way of knowing if it was attractive. She certainly didn’t think it was, but she had never found anything of the male form to entice her. It didn’t rightly matter how impressive it was anyway. She just needed to suffer this long enough to do what needed to be done. This entire process an annoyance she had to get used to simply for the sake of her careful planning. That she called upon it frequently was a matter of private introspection. A topic she didn't air her feelings about.

She just needed to grow accustom to arousal in this form. Learn to accept the confines of it. Learn new stamina, accept the idea of an erection, and the subsequent spilling of desire. If she intended to impregnate a spouse it had to be done. Still, when she thought to the act itself, there was a mild disgust lingering underneath the logic she clung onto to. It made good sense, surely. That hadn’t changed.

The only thing that had changed was her body, her soul’s vessel.

She had come to understand was the cause of her displeasure. Her very soul rejecting this form because it did not reflect her. It did not showcase her truest image. She was no man, never pretended to be one, never wanted to be. So to stand there, looking down at the one thing she ought not to have upon her form, she knew exactly why her soul ached now. It wished nothing more to return back to her intended image. The one she was born as.

She considered that as she reached for attire she usually donned while in this form. When dresses would not do.

It was this selfsame conflict, Weiss assumed, that cause many to travel to the fortress for a ceremony. Every four years, when the gates of the fortress would open for anyone who lived among the four relic lands. Travelers arriving to receive the blessing of the relic when it was at its most powerful and merciful. The year of winter’s relic, on the night of the winter solstice. A single night every four years when the stars aligned and a person could take on their truest form because of a wish upon them. Creation itself correcting its greatest wrongs, uniting lost and denied souls with their proper vessels.

These travelers would end that rare night standing in image they were meant to have. When the sun lifted to the sky, the shift would be permeant and unchangeable. For the rest of their living days, for as long as that vessel took form at all, the image would remain. The body and soul would be complete.

She dressed in a white tunic, breeches, socks, and leather boots. Part of her considered tying back her hair in a low knot, but tossed the idea aside. She tried it once, but then one of the noble ladies called her dashing, asking her if she might uptake the relic to become a man. The bile that had risen up that day promised she would never do that again. Her body lacked an hourglasses figure enough as it was. Something she had always felt a little sour about, envying Winter of her shapely figure.

Once dressed and emotions corrected to the best of her ability, she exited the relic’s chamber. The large stone doors opened a staircase into her library. Her dress and heels went on ignored, left waiting on the stone. She would return for the clothing when she needed it.

“You called for me, my lady?” Pyrrha addressed gently. She didn’t think it wise to comment on her lady’s attire. The subject continued to be a sore one.

Weiss nodded as the stone doors closed and barrier replaced itself. “Ruby wishes to spend a night outside of the fortress with Blake. I didn’t see fit to decline. I will be minding the situation at a distance, but you are to be at Ruby’s side always.”

“Yes, of course.” Pyrrha said with a bow.

“Tell me, what do you happen to know of the concubines in the lower wings?” Weiss questioned then.

“Far too little.” Pyrrha replied then. “I do not partake.”

Weiss raised an eyebrow at this. “Not even of the males?”

“I wouldn’t know a thing to be honest.” Pyrrha said softly. “I have no interest in taking to such proclivities.”

Weiss nodded then, a commonality among many. She wondered if it was merely the lowly station that kept Pyrrha from enjoying them. Nobles often considered them to be filthy, unkempt and carrying disease. Yet the ones within the fortress were no street urchin. They were of fine quality, enjoyed regularly and kept carefully inspected. It was not a role of force, and they were not to be mistreated. These concubines simply enjoyed sexual advance, found some sort of pride in their services. They were not brainless, either. Weiss didn't keep dimwitted concubines within the fortress. They had roles outside of pleasure.

It was a change she had demanded the moment the lands fell into her hands. She cast aside those unfitting and brought in ones best suited to prove useful. They were sexual educators to the nobles preparing for marriage, discussing and teaching best practices for future bedroom frolics. The women to other women, the men to other men. They were called upon to best to navigate marital problems when intercourse proved difficult, discussing with married couples how alleviate tension and romantic issues. They worked along side the medics to determine how best to cure sexual dysfunction, acting as an ear for those who had difficulty with conception. They were experts within their own right, meant to be seen as such.

They were few in number due to the impeccable requirements demanded of them, but that promised the concubines a certain level of respect. Many a noble treated them with graciousness and favoritism. They simply asked, and they received great gifts. Weiss had once bestowed a fine dress on one of the concubines in exchange for a bit of education. The woman commenting on its splendor, wishing for it. Weiss didn't see fit to refuse the payment. Others asked for money, trips, or to have family brought to the finery fortress for better educations and better paying jobs. Such gifts were granted willingly, apt payment indeed.

Still, Weiss understood that many nobles would never partake their sexual services. Pyrrha seemed to be one of them. “If a noble were to approach you, would the interest change?” Weiss asked, because that was usually how nobles found solutions to their desires. Partaking romances never spoken of in order not to lose face.

Pyrrha blushed deeply then, the question sending her cheeks burning at the implication. “My lady?”

“I merely wondered if it was because concubines aren’t to your tastes.”

“It’s nothing like that. I’ve merely chosen to save myself for marriage. If I may ask, why the odd questions?”

There was no need to hide what she was intending to do in this form. Instead she looked to her bodyguard pointedly. “I am in need of someone with the mind to use discretion. This is no easy thing to ask, and I could not inquire this to just anybody. However, to be blunt I require someone skilled in the art of felliatio. I know your interests rests directly with men. I thought you might have insight on the matter. Perhaps shared words with someone who knew how best to pleasure them.”

“Oh…? Oh, I see! I’m sorry my lady, but I haven’t the slightest clue.”

“Given the gossip that goes on around here, that is honestly a surprise.” Weiss said, mystified by that. “I know you frequent the ladies gatherings far more often than I do. Given how personable you are, I assumed someone might speak about who they approached whilst seeking the expertise.”

“It is a raunchy sort of intrigue, isn’t it?” Pyrrha agreed, a small laugh bubbled up due to her own embarrassment.

“I sometimes think the fortress is now mistaken for a brothel.” Weiss agreed wryly. “It wasn’t like that during my father’s reign. I don’t know the nature of this newfound lust overtaking the conversation. I wonder if it is simply because mutual gratification is more common now, or if it something else. Though, given the ruckus I’ve heard in these halls at night, I’ve often considered there may be some sort of aphrodisiac being flung around.”

“You’d think I would be privy to it, but I think they find me a prude.” Pyrrha covered her mouth with her hand, shoulders shaking in humor. She knew perfectly well just what sort of conversations the ladies got up to in their spare time. The far more sexually overt spoke at length of the nobles they’d enjoyed. She collected herself, carefully clearing her throat. “Of course, there is tittering of the subject in the corners of the royal court. I just don’t often find myself among those discussions.”

“I see, well at least it is nice to know you handle yourself with decorum.” Weiss said then, knowing she would need to ask Glynda at a later time. She would certainly know just who to suggest. “That is all I need at this moment. Be prepared to leave at sunset. You are dismissed.”

* * *

Let it not be said that Branwen blood was weak in any capacity. That it didn’t run strong and true. Raven had always known her daughter was more akin to side with her father’s ideology. She had suspected, at least, that Yang hated the side of herself to call upon righteous fury. Taiyang was a peaceful man, prone to idiocy and poor choices, but far from unkind. He was a bleeding heart, at least more than Raven herself.

Needless to say she found it quite comical to watch Yang wander around the bandit camp that day. Inspiring a small speck of fear from those idiotic enough to stand in her way of anything. Her face was stiffened in anger, jaw locked tightly with rage. It seemed that not even Winter was safe from her bluster. In fact, she seemed to be the direct target of it. Raven did little more than drink heavily from a bottle, chuckling to herself. It seemed as though the couple were having some sort of lover’s tiff.

“Aright, I’ll bite. She’s not this angry about Ilia. Something else set her off.” Raven said, turning to the white haired woman at her side. “What the hell did you do?”

“I don’t wish to speak of it.”

“There’s a darkness in her eyes. She told me to fuck off earlier. That’s one very special kind of pissed.” Raven said slowly. “It’s kind of cute in its own messed up little way. Haven’t seen her throw this kind of hissy-fit since the last time Tai cut her hair. She nearly took his head off.”

“You would know, now wouldn’t you?” Winter said, bristling unhappily at Raven’s unusually good mood. “I have said it many times, but she is far more akin to you than you give her credit for.”

Raven merely looked to Winter, her smirk falling. Raven sighed then, clapping the woman on the back none too gently. “Well, whatever you did couldn’t have been too bad. Give it time. The little shit will cool off, she always does.”

“If she is a little shit, who’s to blame for that?” Winter asked then with a shake of her head.

“No kidding, she’s got my temper. She’s more like her dad though. Quick to forgive.”

“I don’t know about that.”

Raven could sympathize. She was a difficult person to deal with, she just didn’t happen to care. Yang did care, and worst of all she cared too much. It made any real conflict difficult. Yang was younger than Winter too. Wild, not prone to settling down. She was a novice in the way of romance, because matters of the heart was not the strong suit of anyone within the family. There was no good example from which to draw from. Raven suspected Yang had her own fair share of flings, but nothing long lasting. She had never asked, never needed to. Yang wasn’t a child, and she hadn’t been for a long time.

“Don’t think about it. Just let it pass. She’s got her dad’s bleeding heart, my bad attitude, and a whole lot of baggage.” Raven said knowingly. “Top it all off, she’s at that age when life starts to really mean something. You start to make the choices that really matter, it’s not easy. Besides, you should have known better. Being with Yang will only get you burned, Winter. I hope you see that now.”

“I don’t believe that.”

“You should. In my eyes the writing is on the wall on that one. You want to know something? I was about her age when I took over the camp. I think Tai had it in his head I’d learn to love living in his village, but we’re not all built to be housewives. In a few years, she’ll be thirty years old with nothing to really show for that. I think it’s eating at her. Hell, it ate away at me too. I didn’t have anything to really sink my teeth into, but I damn well needed something. That’s why I took over the tribe. I kind of hoped she’d do the same. I’m not getting any younger.”

“Yang won’t do that.”

“That’s why I think you’re wasting your time on her. You could settle in at any time. A lot of chicks around here have a thing for you. You could get with one of them, pick out a couple of orphans from a nearby village. If you did that, you’d have yourself a nice little family.”

“I have no interest in that.”

“That’s fine, but it’ll be your loss if you end up regretting this. You can’t build a life with her unless you leave or she stays. Doesn’t seem like either one of those things is going to happen.” Raven said then. “You’re so enamored with Yang that it doesn’t really matter what anyone says. Personally, I think you’re in too deep.”

“Maybe so…” Winter said softly.

“I don’t envy you.” Said then while crossing her arms. “No use in sitting there feeling bad about it. Go, you have a mission to do.”

Raven set her gaze cross the camp. The girl inside the tent wasn’t getting better. The water she had been given would keep the corruption at bay, but her condition was a sickly one. Movement from the tent caught her eye, Yang storming out with a crumple of sheets, barking invectives at anyone to get in her way. Raven grew angry at the mere sight of it, struggling with how best to handle the situation.

She didn’t care a bit about Ilia, didn’t mind her illness or its complications. That was danger of a being a huntress, and Yang should have dumped the girl off at the nearest village when she had a chance. She hadn’t, and in a small way this was entirely her fault. Training young came with its own set of dangers, and Yang should have known better than to amuse the whims of child. It was idiotic and should have been a harsh lesson learned.

Even so, Raven didn’t like watching the consequences. Yang wasn’t doing well, her face showing a mix of exhaustion and pallor. It brought up more than one bad memory. They weren’t particularly close, the two of them disagreed on too many things to share a deep bond. Regardless, Raven loved her daughter. She recalled the time when Yang was old enough to handle the bandit way, strong enough to learn to survive it. Yang had been about Ilia’s age by then. That was about the time Raven stopped making visits to Taiyang’s village entirely. Instead collecting Yang for lengths at a time to oversee her daughter’s training personally.

Prior to that, Raven spend much of Yang’s childhood absentee. She would visit on rare occasions, make herself known, but kept a careful distance. Thinking it best that Yang stay with her father as a little girl, safe and sound within the village. Alongside a parent able to provide the emotional support. Raven had never found within herself to offer Tai's brand of coddling. Cursing to herself she stood up and followed Yang’s path to one of the supply tents.

Yang needed a hard reality check, and Raven knew she was the only person able to give her one.

“Has there been any changes, or is the kid still puking buckets?” Raven asked, watching as Yang gathered new bedding and water.

Yang shook her head, long blond hair falling in front of her face. It didn’t hide her emotions. “What do you think?” Yang asked.

“Me? I think you're beating yourself up about shit you can't control. That you’re clinging onto false hope.” Raven said softly. She felt that on her shoulders, it weighed heavily. As a mother, she understood Yang's concern. As a leader to her tribe, she just couldn't understand her daughter's sullen expression and defeated mood. “There’s nothing wrong with doing that, but you’re doing it the wrong way. You need to take care of yourself.”

“I’m not stupid, I know she’s not getting any better…”

If anything, that was an understatement. Ilia barely recognized her. When her fever spiked anew, Yang couldn’t even begin to understand what Ilia talked about. She ranted and raved about things only she could see. Delusional nightmares mixed with reality, people long dead manifesting within them. She sometimes spoke to her parents, sometimes saw their killer. One moment she would be lucid, asking for a drink of water. Another she’d be spouting nonsense about going to the market to buy new shoes. Then she'd scream, horrified by something that wasn't even there. Old memories dementing the confines of logic, breaking it like a brick to glass.

Raven had never been the type to coddle or cajole. Whenever Yang had been sick in the past, she had told her to shut up, drink her medicine, and keep her ass in bed. Sure, she’d put cool cloths on Yang’s head, sit by her bedside, but that was just the responsible thing to do. “You need to toughen up, Yang. Getting down in the dumps about this is a liability.”

“Easy for you to say, you don’t even care about her.”

“One has nothing to do with the other. Ilia being sick isn’t the liability. It’s you.” Raven bit out. “I say that from experience. You’re the closest thing that girl has to a parent, you need to act like it. Being concerned is one thing. Failing to take care of yourself is another.” Raven knew, sometimes there wasn’t such a thing as comfort. “You need to be strong enough to call the shots. You need to be able to make hard choices. You can’t do that when you’ve got your head halfway up your ass.”

It hurt, made her angry. She didn’t want to hear that from anyone. From Raven least of all. “What would you know about it anyway?”

Raven’s eyes narrowed, because Yang probably didn’t remember it. She had been little then, but there was a reason why Yang stayed in the village. A reason why Raven hadn’t taken her far from it at a younger age. It wasn't that she didn't want to. It was that when Yang was little, it was a risk Raven couldn't take.

“I wake up one day bleeding all over the place, the healers say my baby might be dead in the womb. Weeks later I pop out that baby way too premature and in the middle of the woods, they tell me she won’t last. You turn two and barely survive a Grimm infestation. You turn six, the worst snow storm in a century makes most of my camp and half the village sick. Tai’s bed redden, I’m barely standing, and you catch it. Then you end up spitting blood. He blames himself when we’ve pumped everything we can into you, and the healers tell us it’s no use. To them you’re as good as dead. At one point, you actually do stop breathing. It all came down to CPR and pure luck.” Raven cursed then, swallowing hard. “Fuck, Yang we almost lost you so many times… but I don’t know, you tell me. What do I know?”

Her daughter said nothing to that, but Raven didn’t really expect her too.

“Sometimes there’s nothing you can do but wait. Sometimes you piss in the wind and hope you get lucky. Sometimes you make judgment calls every second of every day. How it pans out doesn’t matter. You fight tooth and nail either way, because if you don’t you end up digging a grave. If there’s a chance of hell freezing over, you take it...” Raven said heatedly. “The one thing you don’t do… you don’t do this. You don’t get weak. You toughen up, grit your teeth, and you bear it. It doesn’t matter how shitty you feel, you get it done. As a parent, that’s your job.”

Raven stomped off then. That was the only reason she let Ilia in the camp. The only reason at all she even bothered to be of any help when she knew it was a waste of supplies and a burden on the camp. Ilia didn't matter to her at all, and so long as she was an outsider Raven wouldn't bring herself to feel even an ounce of care for the child. Yang did matter. She always would. This was something she couldn't handle on her own, so it fell to Raven to step in. That's what a parent did when their flesh and blood needed them. It didn't matter how old Yang was, she would always be her daughter.

Until Raven's dying day, even if there was nothing else, there was that.

"Vernal!" Raven barked, her voice booming through the camp. The woman running to her side as quickly as humanly possible. "I want Ilia's tent cleaned out right now, I don't care who you assign. When I stick my head in there it better be fucking spotless. The first person you come across sitting on their ass gets laundry detail. While you're at it, get Yang some god damned food before she keels over. If she bitches you, cram it down her throat. I'm going to take stock of the medical supply tent. I want every healer, herbalist, and barber we've got to drop what they're doing and meet me in there. Spread the word and get it done."


	14. Chapter 14

** Dilectio  
Chapter 14 **

Annoyed at the form she took, and the bad mood it tended to put her in, Weiss decided to take her frustrations out in the training field. A good spar usually did her a great deal of good. Her eyes searched for an opponent. She needed an advanced huntsman or huntress to face off with. Someone with notable skill, one that wouldn’t make a mess of themselves if she were to call upon them. Most of her prized hunters had finished their daily rigors hours before. Others would not be slated to arrive until hours later.

Those still receiving the most basic training filled the training ground at this time of day. A time allotted directly to children and the vastly inexperienced. Particularly young children were separated for training by gender and family line. It was not until adolescence that the two would meet or be allowed to spar against one another. Male children were permitted in the grounds during this time, receiving tutelage from their male relatives or General James Ironwood. Soon the yard would be cleared of them and opened for young girls to receive the same lessons by their female relatives or Glynda Goodwitch.

So few of her army chose to inhabit the yard at this time, so her options were limited. The huntsman and huntresses that did inhabit the yard were usually at rest. Taking idly to basic fitness, observing the children, or offering instructional matches to newly minted adult recruits. There were a few incredibly strong semblance fighters in attendance, but such a battle was prohibited with inexperienced children nearby. When it came to swordplay, there was only one man that seemed fitting that wasn’t currently occupied.

“Yatsuhashi, honor me with your company. I wish a clash of blades.”

“Yes my lady, it would be my utmost honor.” He said reverently, leaving behind the massive sword that rested on the wall by his side. Weiss set aside her famed blade as well. Myrtenaster was not a weapon to be used on her people. It was a vicious blade meant to bathe in the lifeblood of Grimm. Instead, the two of them were offered the weapon rack. The swords used for the training grounds were kept to their finest caliber.

If this battle was to last for any length of time, it was best to choose a weapon that would allow her a reasonable practice of her skills. She could have chosen a lesser rapier, but the light weight weapon was her forte. She needed a weapon of lesser expertise. Swords that were large and heavy made her appear unsightly. At least that was how she felt, often forgoing them. She desired a strong matching, therefore the fencer reached once again for the katana she favored when facing one of her best men.

Yatsuhashi noticed this, and collected a katana to suit him, just as he was expected to. Kanata’s were common among the bandits and highly acclaimed village warriors. Everyone in her army knew how to wield them, as that understanding gave them the critical advantage against anyone who might carry one. Therefore, the weapon was often an equalizer on the warfront.

“Call your aura within you. We fight to first blood.” Weiss told him as people cleared part of the grounds. Everyone took notice and made sure to give them ample space. “Do not hold back, Yatsuhashi.”

“As you command, my lady.” Yatsuhashi said, bowing deeply. He stood in reverence for a short time. As always, he would be the one offered the first strike.

Preparing himself in a single breath, he launched his attack suddenly. A quick advance, swing sharp and precise as it sliced through the air. In that instant, he’d known it would not connect. Weiss expertly feinted the assault, her own rebuttal came swiftly. Her sword moving forward in a wide and measured arc, one that he willingly met with his own. The loud clang of blades rang out among the training field. Weiss held her ground momentarily, but a step backward couldn’t be avoided.

Yatsuhashi was far stronger, but Weiss was relentless. Faster and nimble.

The series of following strikes rang out loudly like thunderclaps. Counterattacks mounting in a flurry of speed and ruthless skill. It was a deadly dance with their aura’s pulled away. The slightest misstep could be costly, a promise that glinted on the blades whenever they caught the midday sun.

Yatsuhashi was the first to fatigue, because decisive battles were to his credit. Weiss, an expert in battle, knew to draw it out. To inspire him to chase her fleeting form. To receive her attacks with each successive strike only to move swiftly from his own.

Another concussive smashing of the blades sent the metal trembling from the force, and Weiss took another backwards step, this one to free her sword and make the final blow. If it was a stroke of pure luck at the time, or merely that she had caught the man breathless, no one would ever be sure. Either way, it mattered not. Her swing made contact. Blade catching his flesh, he didn’t even flinch in that single blink of an eye.

Blood hit the ground the moment her sword sliced a shallow gash northward, from elbow to shoulder.

Neither one of them dared to show the exhaustion upon them. Instead, Weiss nodded her soft approval. “You’ve done me proud, Yatsuhashi. You are dismissed.”

Unlike most, who would immediately release their aura and heal the cut, Yatsuhashi waited to do that. Pain to him was of lesser note than the honor he had just received. He would not flair his aura in front of her if it wasn’t necessary. To be chosen for a first blood battle was a rare treat. One that implied she trusted him greatly with her life. It was simply his way to accept that great honor and trust with a show of his own. The man bowed one final time, thanking her for the fight. Then he took his leave, only releasing his aura when he replaced his katana and reclaimed his seat.

Weiss exited the area cleared for their battle, keen to sit and watch a few of the other matches taking place. Despite this, her plans soon changed. Amber eyes were upon her, the Faunus had been watching. Her interest was obvious, the leering something seemingly introspective. Weiss felt a stirring in that. A pleasant feeling she knew as attraction. With endorphins running high, it was not uncommon for the body to respond well to stimuli.

Their eyes met from across the field, and Blake immediately looked away. Refocused on her own training.

Weiss was not pleased to lose that burning gaze. Didn’t think of why it displeased her so. All that she cared to consider was that she wished it back. She wanted the attention, and she would partake the chance to receive it. She reclaimed her katana after a moment more to rest. Her legs carrying her away from the warriors who clearly gathered waiting to be chosen. Hoping that they too would be selected for a first blood match. That they would get to speak of that honor over dinner, likely bragging at length.

She smirked in spite of herself. She had no interested in furthering her pursuits with them at this time.

“Huntress, you require an opponent.” Weiss said, because she couldn’t fathom a training dummy to be an apt opponent for anyone else but a child. “I shall offer you the kindness of my services.”

To say that the offer sent the entire group of hunters and huntresses into a stunned silence was an understatement. Some openly gawked, other’s flat out dropped the items they were holding. A few of the training matches went askew as the insane declaration met their ears. The children nearly tripped over themselves, and grown men found their focus shifting. No one thought to expect this.

“Me fight you?” Blake asked, thinking Weiss had lost her mind. Eyes were on her, the whole yard was watching them. “Here? Are you nuts?! They’ll kill me…”

Weiss looked over her shoulder. So they had a few spectators it seemed. It mattered very little. “They will do nothing of the sort. You likely dabble in swordplay among the bandits. I assume you have some level of expertise, seeing as you call yourself a huntress. You have knowledge of their combat prowess, yes?”

Blake hesitated. She did spar with the bandits on occasion. Often as repayment for supplies, but she was not the skilled user of a katana that Raven was. She normally used her own weapon. She had never once faced someone such as Raven, and Weiss seemed of equal skill. “Well, a little bit I guess…”

“You have liberty of the weapon’s rack, huntress.” Weiss told her then. “Take up a katana. I have decided you shall face me in a first blood match.”

“I really doubt that’s a good idea.”

“You would dishonor me by refusing?” Weiss asked, mostly curious. The implication was clear all the same.

“You really want to spar with me?” Blake asked, ears laying down flat against her head.

“Faunus are a warrior people.” Weiss told her smoothly. “Would you rather decline and lose face? Are you such a coward?”

That was a barb too far. Blake grit her teeth. She might lose the fight, but there was no way in hell she would lose face in front of all of these people. “Fine, you want a fight, you’ve got one! I’ll go get armed.”

Blake chose her katana and returned to square off in front of the lady of the lands. She sucked her aura in, watching as Weiss did the same. Humans gathered around them on all sides. Watching and waiting in a large circle. She assumed her stance, Weiss did the same.

“You may come at me at your discretion.” Weiss said, the invitation firm.

Blake knew this match would fail, but she entered the fray as she did any battle she took even half seriously. What followed was a too short ringing of the blades and a sloppy misstep as Weiss brushed her aside like bug. Blake stumbled back, catching herself on unsteady feet. At least she didn't fall on her butt.

“That was pathetic, huntress.” Weiss said sternly. “Come at me with your best, or you shall receive grievous onslaught.”

Blake reset herself, answered again in a number of blows. Lasting longer, but not yet long enough to make any ground. Her blade could not cut through the defense Weiss had claimed for herself, every parry coming with a counter attack Blake narrowly dodged at all. With space between them again, Blake swallowed down the lump that had somehow lodged in her throat and growled disdainfully under her breath.

Was Weiss toying with her?

“Your balance is off, you lack finesse.” Weiss said, the observation causing a few of the spectators to chuckle and belittle Blake quietly amongst themselves. The boys looked up at their relatives with confusion, and Weiss could not ignore the way young eyes tried to make sense of the battle. They were like sponges, absorbing this. They required extrapolation, and Weiss saw fit to offer more words to Blake. “I take it that your usual style to be swift like air, but it is useless with such a blade in your hands. Do not be so light on your feet. Plant yourself more firmly when you come forward.”

“You think this is a game?” Blake shouted, rushing forward, her next strike landing with enough force to shake the blades as they cried out.

“Educational.” Weiss replied, freeing her sword and slashing in a downward cut. It was too slow, and Blake was faster. Weiss showed only a hint of surprise when the blinding light of shimmering steel caught the sunlight just right. It was not difficult to dodge the strike, but that one had real threat behind it. A real intent to harm, to damage, maybe even kill. It seemed the Faunus intended to take the battle seriously after all. “Now that was satisfactory. Continue to fight with that selfsame ambition. It is what I come to expect of an adversary.”

“Shut up!” Blake yelled. Coming forward again, the next few swings wild in their attempt. She was angry, and that anger guided her blade. Even so, she was no match for Weiss, no opponent worth merit. She’d be damned if she’d be talked down upon, though. That was for sure. This time she forced Weiss to move. A few steps, but it gave her something to lean into when each meeting of the blades shook them both.

She felt like she had the upper hand. In truth, it was her largest mistake. Locked together as they were, Blake intended to press further. She didn’t have a chance. Weiss danced effortlessly, the sword an extension of her movement. It was then that Blake nearly came face to face with death itself, flinging herself as far away from the blade that came directly at her. Even so, she felt the sting, and the warmth of something sticky as it slowly slid down her neck.

“Are you trying to kill me?" Blake asked, vice cracking against pure terror as a hand lifted to her jaw. It was a shallow cut, but it carried up beyond her human ear. Any deeper and the blade could have met bone, or worse, an artery. Blake looked at her fingertips, horrified by the wet red liquid. “What the hell was that?!”

“A fitting spar.” Weiss said plainly. “You give yourself too little credit. It’s obvious you rarely hold that sort of blade. Master it, and you’d be a true threat to my person. You are dismissed.” It was then she turned to the man who stood there looking at them. With his mouth hanging open like that, he'd end up catching flies. “James, escort the huntress back to her room. I will oversee your youths until you return.”

Blake released her aura, more than a little shaken as it closed the wound. Her mind tumbling about wildly after her near brush with death. The humans made way for her as James escorted the Faunus from the training yard.

“She really could have killed me.” Blake said, still surprised it had gotten that far.

“It was not likely to happen. Our lady is of particular competence with blades.” James replied, mildly awed by the display he’d just encountered. The Faunus had been quick to learn. Either by instruction or instinct found in the heat of battle. How it happened exactly didn’t matter. “That you suffered injury is secondary to the honor of facing our lady. Consider that you are the first Faunus to receive her invitation of friendly swordplay.”

“Friendly was the last thing I’d call it.” Blake mumbled, still trying to capture her wits. It was insanity. There was no doubt about it.

* * *

Later that night Blake sat by the fire with Ruby by her side. The two of them talking about the constellations in the sky above. Blake told her the stories she knew of, pointing out to the patters that made the images. Small twinkles harbored by the night sky. Pyrrha was nearby, but always on watch. A few white Grimm laying placidly by the fire. Ruby’s favorite white Beowolf curled up at her side.

Weiss looked on, considering the scene atop the fortress wall. She leaned heavily upon it, the guards giving her space so as not to disrupt her musings. Faintly she could hear Ruby asking questions, Blake answering them. It made Weiss believe there may in fact be a bond there, one she would never begin to understand.

She sighed at length, because once Ruby fell asleep the Faunus would be finished with her business regarding the child. It was best that she didn’t stay too long. Weiss went to the relic, called upon its power and claimed the female form once more. She made a habit of ruling as a woman, of making decisions of particular importance as the lady of the lands she knew herself to be. It was best her soul and image be unified to fit her completely. The male appendage inhibited that, or so she felt.

She was firm in her decision that the Faunus wouldn’t linger long. That Ruby’s bond didn’t deepen to the point of harm. A few hours passed before the girl found slumber, and Weiss ordered Pyrrha to bring her in from the night air. The Faunus was to be summoned to her side. While she waited, Weiss struggled at length with what to say.

Once the Faunus actually stood in front of her, it was an easier thing to do.

“Huntress, I feel it best that we conclude your time with Ruby as it stands. You will face the Grimm tomorrow. You shall slay it, as you will gain insight from that. Once that mission is complete you will have no further obligation. You shall be free to leave the fortress after the feast that follows the slaying. Expected to take leave, if only for Ruby’s sake.”

“Is that all you wanted?” Blake asked. “You could have just sent a messenger for that.”

“That wouldn’t have reached the needs of this meeting between us.” Weiss told her. “We must discuss the nature of your payment.”

“I don’t need to be paid for spending time with her.” Blake said with a shake of her head. Seeing Ruby had been payment enough. “Yang would want to know she’s okay. At least I can tell her that.”

“You will receive compensation.” Weiss said, she would not take a refusal. “You have worked, you shall be paid for it.”

“I thought the water was my payment?”

"No, it was not. That was for the sake of my sister. It had little to do with you at all. I merely framed it that way to get you to obey. It is only now that we will discuss your earnings."

Blake sighed softly. What could she ask for? Only one thing came to mind. “Then let Yang see her little sister. Let that be the payment.”

“I cannot comply with that.”

“Why not? It’s what I want.”

“I realize you believe that you’re asking something good, but you do not understand that Yang has complicated the matter. She will not have access to Ruby at this time. Surely there is something else I could offer. Perhaps you’d like some money, or an item of luxury?”

“I live a simple life.” Blake said. “It would be nice, but I don’t truly want luxury items.”

“Then what is it that you wish?”

“Outside of letting Yang finally seeing her little sister?” Blake asked, feeling annoyed that it had been rejected. “Answers, I suppose. I have many questions.”

Weiss sighed delicately, thinking on this as she stood from her seat and made her way to the window. Standing with her back to Blake, she could still see the woman’s reflection in the glass. She promised the Faunus payment. If knowledge was the currency she asked for, so be it. “You may ask your questions. I will answer to my best ability, so long as it does not pertain to something I am unable to disclose.”

“I take it the subject of Ruby would fall under that.” Blake said sadly.

“I’ve said what I will of that.” Weiss nodded from the window as she turned to face the Faunus. “Anything else on that matter would be repetitious. You’d hardly be satisfied.”

Blake cursed to herself. Ruby was where most of her questions rested, but there was one that loomed heavily in her mind. One that had nothing to do at all with the girl, and everything to do with the woman in front of her. “Tell me this, then. Why look at me the way that you do? I’ve noticed your interest. I want to know why.”

Weiss took pause. The question was so utterly damning, but there it was. Placed before her expected to be answered. It wasn’t a question she could brush away as clandestine in nature. Surely they were her own private thoughts, but it harmed nothing to speak them. She had given her word to answer honestly, but the Faunus had challenged that word greatly. A piercing blue eyed stare shot like daggers in Blake’s direction.

“My interest?” Weiss parroted, her words grating heavily upon her ire. “In you of all people?”

“Yes, you look at me in an odd way. Offer compliments when I’d least expect them. Tell me things I doubt you’d tell others. Yet, you then turn a blade and nearly kill me.” Blake said, feeling a wave of near paralyzing fear. This was the same woman who nearly killed her in a sparring match, the same woman that said such strange things. It was unsettling to say the least. “I don’t understand why you do it.”

Weiss didn’t particularly know why she was drawn to this woman. Had no idea why she might be. “It is an interesting question, but I have no reasonable answer for that. I could only speculate.”

“Then do that.” Blake said, wondering if she might regret asking at all. Even so, she had to know. “It’s my payment, isn’t it?”

Weiss crept forward slowly, her movements thoughtful as she drew closer. Then as if thinking better of it, she paused. Eyes falling upon her desk, her mind blank. The reasons completely lost to her. It was infuriating. Still there was one truth that was simple. “I enjoy congress with women. I favor them, as men do not spark the selfsame intrigue and never have. You are a woman, lovely at that. I am not by any means blind.”

Blake didn’t know what to say to that. It was direct and clear, but she swore she must have misheard. Her knees felt weak, because what Weiss implied was completely crazy. It went against everything Blake had ever been raised to know about Schnee’s in general. It was just so off base. Winter, a woman who dared call Faunus her friends had even chose a human like Yang. The elder sibling still followed some of what Blake had come to expect from the bloodline.

Everything about Weiss seemed like a textbook example on the surface, but beneath that surface... that was something else.

“A woman’s one thing, but me?” Blake asked uneasily. She was a Faunus, a different matter entirely, at least as far as nobility was ever concerned. Couplings of humans and Faunus were common in Raven’s fold. Her tribe melded together that way, but they were not the social norm. Faunus usually sought other Faunus, humans with other humans. Even in villages where the two might mix in relative peace, relationships seemed fairly rare. “Do I look like a plaything to you? I don’t understand why else I’d keep your attention.”

“It is a mystery to even myself.” Weiss told her. “It has crossed my mind. I wonder what it may be like to have you. Of course, it is clear to me that such a thought has no business being entertained. Even so, it still comes to mind. It boggles me. So much as we’ve crossed paths, it never occurred to me that Faunus were creatures of particular intellect. I knew they looked mostly human, used our spoken word, but I never thought them to be wise by human standard.”

“You knew of my father, he was very wise.”

“In some ways, I’ll grant you that. However, he was a man of simple station.”

“He was a chieftain to his people, there is no greater station to a Faunus.”

“My point exactly. A Faunus in these parts has never once stood at the highest of stations. That is a place only for humans. Faunus in other relic lands are lucky to be of least nobility, if that. Most are not educated in ways beyond their means. I assumed this to mean that Faunus lacked intellect. That they were someplace between humanity and the animals they take the traits of.” Weiss replied while looking to Blake, sure to have offended her. “The impact you have upon Ruby implies there is something special about you. Some sort of quality I must have overlooked…”

Blake swallowed hard, a hand coming up to scratch the back of her neck as she breathed deeply. She tried to find the logic in this, finding none. She had to say something, choosing to cling onto a simple fact. “I think you’d find that Ruby would like many Faunus. If only she had the chance to meet them. I don’t think I’m special, she just had the chance to meet me.”

“I’d doubt that. She is friendly enough, but Ruby is not a sociable. Or rather, I should say she is not one to cling onto many people. You are the first outside the fortress she’s asked for, the first she’s taken attention to. It merits consideration, therefore I have. What I’ve truly concluded remains to be seen.”

“I don’t know about that, but even so…” Blake still couldn’t believe it. “How does that turn into this?”

Another fine question, but Weiss felt heavier for it. Weighed down by her own confusion. “When it comes to Ruby, her understanding of Faunus is limited. Confined, you could say. Her outlook is within a child’s brand of fear. Selfsame as bandits in that way. You inspire none of what I’d usually expect from her. It gave me pause then, and it gives me pause now. She has seen me take lives before. She doesn’t much like it, but she accepts my choice. She asked for your life, decided that it was worthy of merit. It is rare she speaks out like that.”

“Maybe it’s everything around her that’s to blame.” Blake said, wondering if the feelings Weiss claimed to have were misplaced as well. “If the fortress didn’t hate Faunus so much, she probably wouldn’t be afraid of them.”

Weiss could make that mental leap, follow it to its logical conclusion. It was subjective and relied completely on separate outcomes that hadn’t occurred. It just didn’t feel right. In fact, if she were to be honest, it felt completely off. She had thought of the situation at length herself. In passing she found it daft. Digging deeper, she found she might have made grave oversights. She had been weighing those possibilities heavily when she was brought to question Ruby’s further existence.

That night had proven something. She had placed the choice down in front of the girl. The fortress or bandit camp. Ruby had clung to her, unwilling to leave. Yet, she wanted the Faunus to stay. The two ideologies mixed in a way Weiss had never once thought possible. It didn’t matter if the fortress hated Faunus or not. Ruby saw something in Bake. Something the girl had only seen in a very select few. Prior to Blake, all had been human. For whatever reason, Ruby deemed Blake worthy.

“Perhaps you are correct. Perhaps in a different world, Ruby would take to many Faunus willingly.” Weiss replied softly. “However, the facts lay before us as they are. The fortress tends to hate Faunus, and her exposure to them inspires fear. Reality is before us, and history is not subject to change. That is not all, either. Ruby takes to your lessons with earnest enthusiasm, she often fails to do that with anyone other than myself. Even Glynda struggles with her.”

“You’re avoiding the question.” Blake said. “None of that makes any sense to why you would…” She stopped, choking on the words and swallowing them down. “Ruby’s just a little girl. The way you look at me, there’s nothing childish or innocent about that.”

“You are correct, there is nothing childish about adult desire. However you wanted my thoughts, I’ve given them to you. It was Ruby that inspired me to search more deeply, yet I was the one that chose to do so. You haven’t made such exploration easy.” At this, Weiss sighed at length. “I look at you and I feel as though I am looking down into an abyss at times. That you are beautiful inspires a desire, but it is your mind I cannot comprehend. I wish to, but I think that it could be impossible.”

Blake’s breath was caught in her throat, at a loss. She never really expected to be told something like this. “I have never laid with a man, much less a woman. I wouldn’t even know what to do. Besides, this is crazy given who we are.”

“You do not mean that in the way I’ve come to expect. I wonder, does my attraction to women repulse you?” Weiss asked, because she was sure that it did. That the Faunus would think many things, none of them flattering.

“What…?”

Weiss was no stranger to the ideology that overtook most of the world. Many thought homosexuality was a perverse thing. Twisted and against nature. No one dared say it to her face, but many thought ill of it. Some people were just narrow minded. Thinking it to be a choice, when it was far from it. Others were simply not able to understand the inclination, utterly baffled by it. Even those that weren’t flat out disgusted often clung to the fact that homosexuals couldn’t procreate, and therefore found such relationships daft by default.

“Does it repulse you?” Weiss asked again. “That a woman might seek the touch of another?”

“No...” Blake said lamely, a bit confused. “Why would it?”

“I have come to understand my inclination is not the normality. It is an oddity, perhaps rightly so given the relic I hold.” Weiss said, because that too posed a problem.

There was the stigma inadvertently caused by creation’s relic. A question in the minds of those who didn’t understand. Why be attracted to a soul of the same gender? When the relic could change ones gender entirely, why not wait to use it on its strongest night? Why not pursue a normative way of life? Men with women, as nature itself seemed to demand? The common people didn’t understand the relic wasn’t to be abused that way. That a body was not the same as a soul.

That one couldn’t do such a thing on mere whim.

Many did not understand that sexuality and gender were not the same, never would be. They simply couldn’t fathom that a woman could be happy to have been born as one, and still desire a woman’s love. Or that a man might find himself taken with another man, wanting his hand in marriage instead. That a happy life could be perused this way. That it wasn’t somehow a lesser way to live. In no way less fulfilling, or obsolete.

“That’s because you let the relic be an excuse for people to act stupid.” Blake said then, that side of herself left ignored because she had other things to think about. “I really don’t care about the relic. It’s not like Faunus are permitted into the fortress to use it anyway. We’ve always been kept away from it, so learning to accept alternative lifestyles becomes a requirement. Do you know how many transgender Faunus live a life of depression because they’re not granted access on its strongest night?”

“No…” Weiss murmured, feeling a true guilt at that. She had no idea that it was possible for a Faunus to have such a problem. “I thought Faunus were more akin to the animal kingdom. That they did not suffer such trials.”

Blake slapped a hand to her face. “The humans of the fortress really are idiots. I didn’t think it was possible for anybody to be that damn dumb.” The silence she earned was the scathing sort, and it was then that Blake realized Weiss truly didn’t know. Hadn’t properly been taught about Faunus at all. “You really don’t have a clue, do you?” She asked, peeking from her fingertips, looking at Weiss as though she had grown a second head.

“Well, if you feel that way, why not enlighten me?” Weiss bit out. “You have my ear. If I am that ill-educated, why not explain?”

Blake sighed then. Well, what did she expect, really? The fortress was full of bigots. Weiss probably didn’t have a clue. She probably didn’t even know about the animals that inhabited the wilds, or how complicated they truly were. Bake dropped the hand from her face, looking to Weiss with no small amount of annoyance.

“Okay fine… let’s pretend Faunus are animals. We’re not, but for the sake of discussion, let’s pretend. Some amphibians can still change their gender. Male sea horses are the ones that give birth, not the females. Bonobos are bisexual as an entire species. Even if Faunus were animals, that wouldn’t mean we’d all be straight or cisgender by human capacity. Excluding us from the fortress on the relic's strongest night is still the wrong thing to do.”

“Yet is it not Faunus capacity in which you measure yourselves?” Weiss asked.

Blake only cast her gaze to Weiss, deadpanned. “The fact you’re even interested in me at all should tell you that I’m not a cat. We’re people Weiss! We have complex thoughts and feelings just like humans. That includes all Faunus. I find some women attractive, some men as well. It has nothing to do with being Faunus, that’s just who I am. Taking that step just wasn’t something that crossed my mind. I’ve never been with anyone because I had other things to consider. We’re people too, and you can’t just look Faunus and assume we’re all the same. We’re not a monolith.”

Weiss stood there, searching those amber eyes, averting her gaze as her mind found conflict. Had humanity really caused this unforeseen damage? Really harmed so many by fortress ideology? Were the Faunus akin to humanity? Not just in looks, but in nature too? Was their nature so much the same that it had been grossly overlooked due to repressed human understanding? Perhaps unforgivably ignored? Had the relic holder in Vale seen this? Is that why Faunus stood with lesser nobility and seats at his table?

“If that is so, I owe you my sincerest apology.” Weiss murmured. “It has never been my intent to cause needless suffering. It is the same reason I refuse to keep slaves. I am ruler to these lands. My actions must be above reproach when it comes to the peoples under my power.” She felt weak then, sitting down at her desk. “It was not my intention to spread tyranny.”

“Yeah well, road paved to hell and all of that rhetoric. I suppose I can’t blame you, it wasn’t like you asked to be born a Schnee.” Blake said edgily. “It happened that way, but I am not the one you need to apologize to.”

Weiss licked her lips. Those implications were staggering. If what Blake said happened to be factual, even slightly, the implications were dark ones. She couldn’t abide them. She couldn't call Blake a liar either. She couldn’t disregard that the Faunus could be right. Weiss knew there was a possibility, her education had been handed down by people like her father. The sort that never troubled themselves with Faunus need.

But if such damage had been done, it was little wonder why so many Faunus hated humanity.

The attacks on the fortress and longstanding ills began to make sense under that perspective. Now she was more curious about Blake. Her continued complaints, insults, and standoffish nature made sense too. If the relic was one point of contention for Faunus as a people, what were the others? Weiss felt frustrated that she couldn’t begin to know.

What else had she missed?

She had no idea…

“Apology would never be enough.” Weiss said darkly. “If what you say is true, then I have sullied far too much of this land with innocent blood. Righting wrongdoings would be the least I could do. Even that would never suffice. What is done cannot be undone, but I will strive to cease the ongoing harm that has been caused. On that you have my word.”

“If you did, you’d have my gratitude.” Blake said. “You’d be the first Schnee that would even care to try...”

Weiss nodded, but she was far from comforted by the words.

“Winter tried to make changes, but she saw that it didn’t do much good at the time.” Weiss said softly, under her breath and so quiet she wondered if Blake could actually hear her. “She spent most of her time outside of the fortress wandering the landscape. When I was young we discussed things we never divulged to our father. He would have been infuriated. We never saw eye-to-eye on many subjects. When he died, she left the fortress entirely.”

“Winter doesn’t speak much about the fortress…” Blake agreed.

“She hated it here. Before she left, she told me something. She said if the fortress crumbled, for the better. She told me that she almost wished it would. I didn’t understand her reasons. Part of me still doesn’t, but I know treatment of Faunus had been one of them.” Weiss scowled then, disliking that perhaps Winter had been right. “It seems you shall not be dismissed from the fortress for some time yet. I will have further need of you. For now you are dismissed to your room. I require time for my thoughts..."


	15. Chapter 15

** Dilectio  
Chapter 15 **

The next day was a strange one. Weiss woke to the feeling of unease. The sun hadn’t even risen yet as she dressed and opened the doors to a small balcony. It seemed not even the lowest of fortress servants were beginning their day. She couldn’t rightly blame them, the darkness hadn’t yet faded enough. The air was still, nothing seemed amiss in the distance. No large fires were uncontrolled, there weren’t shouts of anguish from the nearby villages. In fact, she didn’t notice anything of import at all.

She turned her attention to her own surroundings. That of the fortress, the grounds below. An owl with a band on its leg was more than happy to call out, but that wasn’t unusual. That it wasn’t bothered nor incredibly alert meant there were no Grimm nearby to frighten it. The owl was one of her own, carefully tended and trained by the handlers. They were released nightly to fly freely and rid the premises of vermin. That it so calmly perched on the balcony at all promised it wasn’t in search of food. They didn’t make a habit to feed the owls, so it had clearly found its meal someplace. The owl’s presence promised there was nothing horribly wrong here either.

So what then? What bothered her so unfathomably?

Her mind turned to the huntress. That heavy conversation was the type to grip the soul tight, plague the mind. It surely had her tossing and turning hours before. It left questions needing to be answered, and a wealth of mystery unsolved. There was certainly something elusive about the Faunus woman, something to ponder at length about. Even so, that was hardly the sort of thing she ever lost sleep over. Blake held her waking mind, not her sleeping one.

Finding little more than the chill of the night air and her own annoyance, Weiss entered her room again and closed the door. She lit a small lamp, began to pace. This was a restless calling of some sort. It was beyond what she was accustomed with. The feeling seemed like one she had felt before, though never at length like this. It came to her then, the realization of just what force this was. It was power that drew her in, without her own desire to be called.

She dressed hastily, only enough to pass the hallways without raising eyebrows if someone saw her. Her destination was deep within the confines of the fortress. Into the library, beyond the stone door kept there, and down the near endless number of stairs. There her eyes fell upon the distinct reason she couldn’t sleep. A staff glowing in an unearthly way, floating upon its pedestal. The glow was usually a gentle one, but this was different. A darker blue, deeper than the oceans. It felt malignant.

“I have come as you demanded.” She said to the relic that didn’t offer a reply. Its powers weren’t completely understood. Was it sentient? Most believed so. The relic seemed to decide on its own what command to obey. It was no mere object, and it was foolish to think it was. “What do you want from me?”

The relic did little more than float as Weiss glared at it.

“I demand you speak!” She shouted, her words echoing. Honestly she wouldn’t fault anyone who would think her insane. For a short time, nothing happened. She thought that the relic didn’t hear her. Perhaps it couldn’t. Yet her aura warned her otherwise. Something was not right. That was clear to her. The relic was displeased.

Every fiber of her being warned her not to get near it, but she approached it anyway. she pulled the relic completely from its pedestal, holding it in her hands. Fingers sliding across the gold of it, a thumb finding that glowing gem atop the staff. She felt something. What exactly? She couldn’t be sure. Regardless, there was an intent in the glow. A question. Perhaps a demand. “You try to bend my will… why?”

The relic said nothing, but she swore she could feel a whisper of something against her aura. Voiceless, but not a fabrication of an unsound mind. She licked her lips, sighing as she replaced the relic and regarded it. The relic seemed to have compelled her to come here, wanted something of her. She couldn’t untangle the reason why it wanted her attention. She had studied the relic at length. There were stories of this archived, rare but unheard of.

Relics were gifts from the gods themselves, and gods were capricious beings. Just as she was considering that, a teardrop formed from beneath the stone crystal that gave it power. As it fell soundlessly onto the stone pillar, another followed. The droplets continuing and collecting into a puddle.

“Water…” Weiss murmured, finding a small clarity with each drop that fell. “Is this about the girl?”

It had to be…

But, for what reason?

* * *

Midmorning came, and a message from the bandits along with it. Winter was the one to bring it.

They used to stand like this often enough. Side by side, looking out at the sprawling lands. They had tittered on in those days, as young people tended to do. When they were younger it had never been anything of import. The younger would complain about her studies, the elder would comment on royal frivolity. Together they’d find some measure of comfort, or at least complain enough to blow off some steam.

It was fitting then, Weiss decided, that Winter stood by her side in this place. Only theirs, this small corner outside the fortress where guards rarely walked. They both leaned on the wall, a great deal needing to be said. The time for it long passed. They’d both made choices that upset the other. They’d both continued on with their choices regardless of that. Common ground was hard to stand on as they grew older. When those choices were no longer simple affairs, their bond became a convoluted one.

As sisters, they’d always hold some form of familial love. As family bound by bloodline, Schnee women as well, there were just some things only the pair could understand. Yet as ruler and bandit, they were not allies. They couldn’t be. Discussions of personal merit were difficult. Talk of business became standard. This news fell into both categories, an awkward topic. 

“Are you sure this isn’t a fabrication?”

“Cinder is in league with Salem. I overheard the mutterings from my own ears.”

“The child I understand, but our bloodline…”

“That is a personal ambition.”

“A foolish one.”

“Regardless.”

“Winter-”

“I have no intention of being killed.”

“I doubt Cinder cares much for your intentions.”

Winter said nothing to that. It went without saying. War was going to rage across the relic lands. The factions at play were a great many. Questionable allies, friends, foes. They were going to congeal and this matter was going to get sloppy. It wouldn’t due to sit idly by. Raven was already planning an assault on the next caravan of supplies. She had no idea what her younger sibling was going to do about it, and frankly she wasn’t in a position to concern herself over it.

Weiss was less keen to keep silent, her thoughts a vast many. All boiling down into a fact that sickened her.

When she found words, they were dry and emotionless. “This complicates matters more than I care to admit. I have been preparing for war, but what you speak of is an apocalypse.”

“Do you think you’ll manage?”

“There is no seasoned warrior ready to dispatch, and Salem cannot be defeated without at least one.”

“There is the winter maiden.”

“It is forbidden. Assuming we broke every bylaw, we’d still have to train her. She’s hardly the type to take to combat.”

“It seems that keeping Cinder at bay is your only option.”

“So it seems…”

“Will you declare war upon Cinder’s forces then? If you strike now, Cinder might capitulate.”

“She might, but Salem will not. If she is hiding nearby, there would be no way to stop her. Waiting may be my undoing, but so long as they continue to plot, so shall I.” It was then that Weiss handed her sister a small leather pouch. “You’ll find it less generous than the last one. Tell Raven to think of her cut in pay as incentive to bring me something more substantial next time.”

Winter took it, offering her own dry look in return. “I don’t see how anything could be more substantial than information on Salem’s whereabouts.”

“Whereabouts that still remain unknown…” Weiss merely looked to her sibling with a shrug. “What I gave is more than enough. If you feel it isn’t, pay the difference from your earnings. You still owe me for the relic’s water anyway.”

“I never agreed to that! You made it quite clear that I had no say in the matter.”

“Would you rather the girl had died?” Weiss asked, she knew her sister well. Winter would have never wished that. Couldn't, it just wasn't within her. “I didn’t choose a peaceful arrangement for Blake’s sake. I didn’t choose it for Raven’s either. Those were merely calculated boons, added bonuses to my intent. You should have come to me as soon as it happened. You didn’t, and that made it clear you had no intention of asking for my help. I realize we don’t see eye-to-eye on particular matters. I know it causes a deeper rift, but you are my sister. I’d like to believe that means something.”

In some ways that she could never admit to, it meant everything. Winter didn't answer, she didn't need to.

* * *

Blake sat in the waiting area. Rubbing her hands together, she inspected her weapon one final time. Her blood was pulsing nervously in her veins, and every time someone passed the door she jumped in her own skin. Finally the door opened, and there had never been a better sight for sore eyes.

“Winter!” Blake said, so thankful to see a friend. “What are you doing here? Did something happen to Ilia?”

“Never mind what I’m doing here. I should be asking you.” Winter said, closing the door behind her. “Have you lost your mind?”

“So you heard then. Weiss says this is a punishment for defying her. She thinks it’ll teach me something.” Blake said, shaking her head. “It’s just an Ursa, I don’t understand what the big deal is. Although, I can’t say I’m a fan of being watched in combat.”

“That thing is no Ursa.” Winter groused darkly as she flipped some of her white hair out of her face. “It may be built like one, but I assure it is nothing of the sort. That thing is a monstrosity, plain and simple. You’re more reckless than Yang if you plan to step foot into that arena.”

“What, you’ve seen it?” Blake asked.

“Who do you think claimed the bounty for its capture?” Winter asked then. “I thought you’d be more perceptive in this, but I was wrong. Just what sort of Grimm do you think Raven and I hunt? When I’m out on patrol, these are the sorts of Grimm I’m after.”

Blake didn’t know what to say. She had never thought deeply about the dangerous missions, or what the bandits tended to hunt for. They had it out for Salem, and as far as Blake knew that was the part that made it dangerous. “I never thought on it."

"You certainly should have."

"You know as well as I do that Raven gets up to some unsavory things. It bothers Yang, so why would I dig into it?”

Winter nodded her understanding, but it still irked her. "A well made point, but let me be clear. Act with caution."

"Do you think it can be killed?" Blake asked as her trepidation began to rise from within.

"Yes, it can." Winter said, she was assured of that. "I haven't come across a Grimm that couldn't be, although that's just semantics. You're a huntress, so I won't tell you not to do your job. That being said, arena matches are ones to the death. Only one comes out alive. I doubt Weiss would send you in if she expected you to die, but your semblance is not the same as ours. You won't have the same intuition that I would. Do not allow it to strike you. It's too powerful."

"What am I dealing with?"

“I did not spend enough time with it to discern all of its dangers. Raven was at my side at the time. I can’t stay, either. I was only to be here to drop off a piece of correspondence. I’m not permitted to linger, and even if I could I’d never be allowed to help you fight it.” Winter said, huffing out a long breath in agitation. “Listen to me carefully, Salem has creations that you would never think to dream up. Even after we kill them, we’d never think to summon them. They’re so vicious that the moment we try, they turn on us. They’re uncontrollable monsters. That abomination just happens to be one of them. Go in prepared for a fight, and don’t underestimate how difficult it will be to kill…”

* * *

Blake hated it. Everything about it irked her. She stood atop a stage hanging over the arena floor. Instructed to stay there until the battle began in earnest. The roar of the arena was thunderous until Weiss stood from her place, lifting a hand to silence the spectators. The seats were full, nearly bursting with the attendees. Weiss looked upon the countless faces. People quieting as they waited for her command. By her side Ruby fidgeted in her seat.

“Today you have been called here to an auspicious event. You will witness the defeat of a most formidable foe. A creature of Grimm unlike its forest brethren. I bid you all to take sight of its death, and the huntress that will spill its blood.” Weiss began solemnly, speaking out to the peoples. “Standing before you is a Faunus huntress, the first to stand within these walls. Surely you have questions, but you shall withhold them and take heed of a bloodline thought to have died out. The one that stands here today is no lowly Faunus, but one of paramount blood to her people. Blake Belladonna, daughter of the lost Belladonna tribe. May she receive the maiden blessing and live to see another day.”

Weiss took her seat, an impossibly loud form of silence coming over the arena. Then one of the tall gates lifted. In the blackness of the now open door, Blake heard the rumbling of the Grimm before she could see it. General James Ironwood stepped out, and along with him a procession of huntsmen and huntresses dragging thick chains. There had to be twenty strong, each one struggling to pull the creature from the depths of the darkness.

A wild snarling met her ears as the Grimm fought against its captors. Heavily armed, they pulled the creature out into the daylight. It was gigantic, impossibly so, even on all fours. Blake felt panic grip her. No one had mentioned its size. She had thought Winter would have warned her. It stood taller than the general even while hunched. Armed with massive claws and head so large she wondered if she could be swallowed down whole.

It was covered in scars. Likely from the experiments thrust upon it, forced to endure torture like a lab rat, all the more vicious due to its foul treatment. The chains were affixed to large steel poles before the huntsmen and huntresses left the arena floor. Then, James did too. The arena left empty as he climbed a back staircase to join Blake on the stage.

“You are permitted to kill the beast by any means you see fit.” He replied, standing tall as he looked down to Blake with a sternness in his eyes. “Take heed of this undertaking, huntress. Once you jump down into the arena, there is no turning back. One of you shall die this day. Once you are ready, I shall free the beast from its confinement.”

Blake wanted to backpedal, to escape, but the doors to exit the stage were locked tight now. The arena closed off as the massive Ursa struggled to be free.

“There is no way I am going down there on my own.” Blake told him, pointing at the deranged creature. “You’re crazy if you think I am.”

“You have been ordered to do so.” He replied. “You shall go on your own, or you shall go when this stage drops you down. Either way, you will face that creature.”

“If this stage falls, I swear to the gods, I’m taking you down with me.” Blake shot back, knowing she had more clones than he had bullets. She could force him off the stage if she needed to.

“I have stood in that arena many times. I would have today, if you had not been tasked to do so. I have no idea why it falls onto your shoulders, but I think it is clear you have done something to cause it. Did you honestly think you could defy the lady of these lands?” James asked her. “You’ve dared to cross her, I assume. I’d think that this is the penalty. Unless you wish me to shoot you instead, I’d suggest you jump down now while you still have the choice.”

“Tall words, but you’d be scared too.” Blake spat, because the Grimm was meant to be feared. There was no way not to be afraid of it. A little healthy fear saved lives. “The difference between you and me is that I don’t need to be ordered to hunt. If it was hurting someone, I’d fight it willingly. If you think this is some sort of punishment, you really are in the wrong profession. No wonder Winter hates this place. You’d rather play games than do your job. You make me sick.”

Blake jumped down. It wasn’t because of the idle threats, but because she couldn’t let this Grimm live. Whoever had done the experiments must have taken a fascination of the Grimm, toyed with it, leaving it more hideous. As a huntress, she took a pride in her work. If she walked away now, there was no telling what they might do to it. If it ever got free, it would kill anyone without the skill to defeat it. She couldn’t permit it to live. Lifting her hand, Blake gave the signal.

James pulled his gun free and took aim at the chains. He fired at the locks, releasing the Grimm from its confinement one by one until it pulled free of its own volition. Charging at Blake with one stone pillar still attached and a thirst for vengeance. A giant clawed paw took a swipe, Blake narrowly rolling out of the way as a clone was crushed beneath it. The gasp of onlookers told her they assumed she had been squashed in that moment. Her gunfire proved them wrong as the bullets bounced off the beast and Blake bit down on a series of swears, swallowing them down.

The Ursa was too heavily armed, gunfire wouldn’t cut through its thick hide.

The Grimm chased her, and she ran circles around it, watching its heavy body move as it chased her. It was fast, too fast for its size. Another near miss, and Blake grit her teeth. Gambol Shroud was versatile, but this Grimm was serious business. It was too heavily armed, too fast to battle on the ground. She needed to get up high, out of its reach. She made as much distance between herself and the drooling monstrosity as she could. She began preparing her chain scythe and hoping she’d be able to lodge it into the stage above.

The first throw didn’t take, her aim off as she rolled out of the way of the massive teeth that nearly sunk into her. The Grimm roared loudly in anger as its jaw clacked against itself, a clone half eaten and left to dissipate. She began to kite the beast again, running in the large circle that contained the both of them. Throwing her weapon once more, she made purchase and with a sharp snapping motion coiled herself far above the arena floor. The Grimm jumping at her, snarling when it couldn’t reach.

“Yeah, you just keep snarling, you piece of shit.” Blake shouted at it, fighting to catch her breath. The nearest standing pillar was too far out of reach, and her prized weapon wouldn’t hold forever. She needed a game plan, her sharpened hilt her only solution. It was beyond stupid, something only Yang would be crazy enough to try. Sadly her friend wasn’t here, and Blake was on her own. Steeling her nerves as the trap door creaked, Blake held tightly to the hilt and released Gambol Shroud from the stage floor. She drooped down atop the leaping creature, a sickening crack shattering bone as she bore her entire body weight on that sharpened hilt.

Black ooze squelched from the creature’s face, it yowled incoherently but that was time enough for Blake to gain an advantage. Lodging a bullet into one of its keen eyes, it charged her widely again, and this time Blake didn’t retreat as she let another clone absorb a hit from the gaping maw that could no longer shut. Another several bullets shot out bits of bone and teeth, before a swipe of its paw sent her flying against an area wall.

A three wound gash heeled before she made impact, but her head had hit the wall face first.

The audience rang out with gasps and cheers, but those soon turned to cries of terror. She stood adjusting her weapon and rolling out of the way once more. The charging Grimm slammed into the wall after her. With the foundation shaking mightily and the Grimm stunned, Blake sliced away at it fruitlessly before making another wise retreat. Flinging her chain once more to a nearby pillar, she climbed atop it and waited for the Grimm to charge again.

It didn’t.

It stood and it waited. As if it knew what she had planned, and knew better than to ram into a pillar that would fall atop it.

“So it does think things through…” Blake muttered to herself, looking to the one stone pillar that was still attached to its back leg. It didn't bode well. Blake knelt on the pillar and assessing the situation. The Grimm seeming to do the same as it edged closer, and yet not close enough. “Bastard’s not close enough to drop this thing on it.” She panted tiredly. “Likely knows better than to run into the wall again... can’t risk taking another hit, don’t have the aura for that… shit…”

What was going to do? She couldn’t let the Grimm rest for too long. Wouldn’t let it regenerate or regain its strength. If she did, she’d be a goner. Aura protected her up until now, but the stinging in her head told Blake that it had already healed away a closed head injury. She doubted she had enough in her to take another brutal impact to stone and concrete. She couldn’t hazard a chance with its claws. Instead, she aimed Gambol Shroud right at its mangled face.

She made a hard throw, lodging the chain into its skill. It reared back, and in that breath she gave a tug. Flying headlong through the air, she landed deafly at its back, chain tight as she slammed her foot down against the blade, digging it deep into the creature’s brain as it fell with a final agonized cry. Silence followed, eyes upon her. Then, ever so slowly, black dust lifted into the air.

The Grimm was well and truly dead, and the stadium rang out in celebration.

* * *

That evening, it was time for the feast. Blake had won against the Grimm, and therefore her victory was to be celebrated. If only it were that simple. Then Weiss could have been comforted by a night that wasn’t filled with complexity.

A noble that lacked entertainment found their own. They’d titter in the corridors and mutter in the wings. They’d convolute matters at any and all opportunity, and the fortress was home to many nobles with far too much time on their hands. Weiss knew this to be factual as the celebratory feast went underway. As was customary, the one who slayed the Grimm was to sit at the head table. Those of particular favoritism or highest esteem were invited to sit with the lady of the lands, this extended to the Faunus by tradition.

Despite the fact it was expected, the fortress had eyes on Bake. Fellow huntsmen and huntresses murmured about her talent in the ring. Spoke upon it the same way a scholar might speak about complicated texts. There was nothing wrong with discussing her talent or determination, but the murmurs didn’t stay logical for long. They wondered at Blake’s heritage, Belladonna or not, she was an inferiority. Still, she had the nerve to sit beside the lady of the lands, address her by name?

Weiss noticed the subtle shifts in the air. This was not like a usual gathering.

During dinner Blake was offered the choicest cuts of meat, and the first pouring of wine. Everyone took notice of that, no matter how commonly it occurred on arena day. If a hunter made a good showing, they were rewarded. It was that simple, but the nobles were green with envy and blue in the face with their hushed whispers. That Ruby was a guest only made matters worse, because her conduct was an eyesore on a typical day. Seating her next to Bake after a hard won battle was worse than a sugar rush.

The nobles noticed that too. Wondered if the Faunus was in some sort of service to the girl. Acting as guard perhaps. Yet, the worst rumor was yet to come. One murmured well out of earshot, something Weiss had only been informed of because Glynda overheard it. Filthy minds assuming Blake was the newest concubine to enter the fortress. That she had been chosen for her exotic splendor. That perhaps their noblest lady wanted something more than the human concubines down below could provide. It was too much a headache to consider, but there it was.

After the meal ended the dancing began. The hour grew late when Weiss sent Ruby off to bed. A few nobles called to her attention, and Weiss spoke them. Blake crept away to find solitude on the open terrace. She leaned on the wall, looking down at the garden below. She stood there, biting her. Glancing occasionally to the lady of the lands, she took in her beauty. It was hard to ignore. Weiss was as magnificently dressed as always. Three songs passed. Along with them, so did Blake’s thoughts.

There were some humans that gawked at her. Some of the same men that laughed at her in the training yard watched her curiously now. She didn’t like their gaze, but children peeked out from beyond the doors too. They were fascinated by her, awed. She looked to them and noticed for the first time the looks on their father’s faces. It wasn’t disgust or malignancy. It was something else.

Respect.

Restrained surely, kept close at hand, but she noticed it. It was in their strong shoulders, crossed arms, and relaxed consideration. It wasn’t that they looked down their noses at her. It wasn’t contempt that this small gathering of men harbored. It was wordless understanding, a single drop in a too dry bucket. Acknowledgement she had earned, no one could take that from her now.

“I take it you are not one for festivities?” Weiss asked as she came to stand beside the woman.

“I wouldn’t really call whatever that is festive.” Blake said softly. "It's too uppity for that."

“It can be a bit much, I suppose. That is another thing you and Ruby seem to agree on.” Weiss said as she was brought to consider the stringent ways of the fortress. The servants had other ways to entertain themselves, relaxed gatherings and boisterous ones alike. “She much prefers to visit the grounds during the harvests. The farmers and servants within the fortress have a knack for their gatherings. I’d bet you’d think that to be a more fitting celebration.”

“You offered your apology last night, but I feel I should also do the same.” Blake said quietly, because she noticed something between them she needed to correct. “With the way Yang spoke, Winter too, I suppose that I judged your bond with Ruby harshly. I don’t understand why you keep her here. I still don't know that I agree with it, but what I can say is that I was wrong. I can tell when she’s at your side, she’s happy. You don’t mistreat her like I thought you might.”

“Does her place here truly plague your mind so much?” Weiss asked gently.

“It hurts Yang.” Blake nodded. “I owe her everything. She saved my live, gave the people in my homeland a proper burial. She offered me a place to belong. She’s my best friend, and she cares about Ruby so, so much.”

“She hardly knows the girl…”

“I think that’s why she’s so hurt. It was bad enough when Raven told her that Summer died. Raven and Yang aren’t particularly close. Yang and Summer though… Yang doesn’t talk about her, but I get the feeling she really loved that woman. Given the way Raven sometimes acts, it's not hard to believe Yang bonded better with her stepmom. She probably hates the fact that her one link to Summer Rose was taken away from her too. I know she’s pissed at Raven and Taiyang. They don't even put up a fight with you.”

“That's because they understand Ruby is safest at my side and not theirs."

"Raven I get, but Taiyang's her dad. The way Yang has it figured, he should have done something..."

She holds onto that anger?”

“Oh, like you wouldn’t believe.”

“It seems an odd grudge to keep.”

“You don’t know Yang like I do. She’s all in, all the time. If she has her mind set on something, there’s no changing it, and Ruby means so much to her.” Blake said, fingers tapping idly upon stone. “I had always thought Ruby was just a figment of her imagination. That Yang hoped so badly that Ruby was alive that she’d built up some sort of fabrication for her little sister’s loss. Then I ran into Ruby… or, I guess you could say she ran into me. Tackled me right into the ground. I thought she was just a lost child. Then you showed up and everything just fell together. My mind came to the worst conclusions…”

Weiss sighed at length. “I will not tell you everything, but I shall offer you something. The Grimm you fought today, they hunt down children like Ruby. That is their only reason for existence. Therefore they do not wander the woods aimlessly like other Grimm. They head directly for populated areas. If a child like Ruby is expected to be there, a Grimm will be sent to search. That is one reason why leaving Ruby in the woods is far safer than any settlement when I am not at her side. You’ve seen one of those monstrosities today. As I’ve told you it was a fairly weak one.”

"That's one reason, you said." Blake pointed out. "There must be more."

"All of the circumstances come down to the same reason. Her family cannot offer sufficient protection. Yang doesn’t understand, and like Raven she is bullheaded to a fault. On top of that she is unruly, and would never bow to the rules within this fortress. Her affiliation with Raven at all makes the matter even more complex. That she feels the urge to avenge Summer Rose tends to get in the way of my plans. Yang would need to conform entirely to fortress doctrine, and we both know that won’t happen. If she can’t do as she’s ordered to do, she will not be welcomed. It is that simple."

“What makes Ruby so powerful? She’s just a little girl…”

“I won’t say more than what I have on that.” It was then that she cast her eyes to Blake, looking to the Faunus with a saddened expression. “What I will say is that if she did conform, I'd bring her in. I don't act the way I do to torture Ruby's half-sister. It comes with good reason. Raven, Taiyang, even Yang herself risk alerting Salem to Ruby’s location. That is why they must keep their distance. The only one currently permitted inside these walls is Yang's uncle, and only because he capitulates to my orders. Taiyang and the others do not, they act on their own whims."

Blake rolled her eyes at that. "Her uncle is an even bigger ass than Raven."

"He is also is one of my foremost huntsman regarding Salem, and spends much of his time away from my lands entirely. All of the relic lands use his guidance. Even when he is here, he isn't allowed to go near Ruby at all. His semblance makes that impossible." At this Weiss merely placed a hand on Bake's shoulder, smoothing a lock of hair behind her back. "They have foresight enough to trust me in this, meanwhile Yang chooses not to. You should know by now I favor those who do as I say. If you wish for Yang to be able to see her sister so badly, perhaps you should implore her obey me."

Blake swallowed hard as she nodded gravely. She didn’t want to accept only that, but it was more than she’d ever thought she’d be given.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Weiss and Blake cut to the core of emotional matters. In doing so, they decide to take the plunge.
> 
> (No I'm not cock-blocking you again, lol. Chapter 17 will have your sexual content. It will be posted up today as well. I just wanted to make it easy to skip for those who didn't want to read it.)

** Dilectio  
Chapter 16 **

The Arc family was massive and therefor had a rather large section of hallway to call their own within the fortress. It rested on the lower levels, not prestigious enough to stand on the uppermost floors. Not low enough to reside on ground level where the lowest in station resided. Letters in hand, he searched through them. None were his own, all of them were for his sisters. He placed them down on the table and sighed heading down to the single open sitting room allotted to his family, finding his sister there.

“Hey Saphron, I didn’t think you’d be around…” Jaune greeted, noticing that the woman lacked her robing or other casual attire. She wasn’t prone to dresses often, wearing them only for the events demanding them. Saphron was something of a tomboy, taking to pants and tunics when chasing after small children, and robes when she had appearances to keep. “You look nice, what’s the occasion?”

“I just returned from tea.” She told him. “I have a little time to myself, but I have to attend a formal dinner later. I was too lazy to change.”

Jaune nodded, hand slipping into his pocket. “A letter came for you, it’s on the table in the dining hall.”

“I’m aware.” Saphron said while regarding her younger brother. “It’s all that the ladies of the court were muttering about today. Tea was full of chatter about it.”

“What’s going on?” Jaune asked her. “All of your guys have one, but not me, mom, or dad.”

“Father hasn’t told you?”

“If he did, I don’t remember it. I don’t think he told me about anything important recently…”

Saphron stood from her chair. “Come with me.” She said, all but dragging her brother to her bedroom, closing the door and locking it behind her, keeping her voice low. “Given the rumors, it made me curious. I asked him what all the fuss was about. He made me swear not to air it publicly. If I tell you, you’ve got to swear to me you won’t tell anyone.”

“Oh no…” Jaune said gravely, eyes darkening in worry. “It’s not about the conflict all the huntsman are talking about, is it?”

“Some of the women talk about that too during gatherings, particularly the noble huntresses. It’s a passing interest for them.” Saphron said, sitting down on her bedside and plucking at her dress. “This news has nothing to do with that. Apparently, the lady of the lands has decided to choose a spouse. She’s looking for a woman by the sounds of it, so all of the eligible women of the noble class are to be prepared in the event they're chosen.”

“She’s looking for a wife?” Jaune asked, eyebrow raised. “Oh man, heads are going to roll when the guys find out.”

“Does that surprise you?” Saphron asked.

The blonde man sighed. He knew what Saphron got up to, never thought much of it. She was his sister, he cared about her, and that was all that mattered. “We knew this was going to happen one day. I had just assumed she’d be a bit more traditional about it. That’s all.”

“I’m sorry, Jaune.” Saphron said then, knowing her brother had kept his mild jealousy concealed for a long time. He had a small flame for the lady of the lands, most men did. Jaune’s was different though, more distinct. Weiss had never favored him, never favored any male with her attention, but least of all him. “I know you had been hoping she’d see things in a more traditional light.”

“It’s not like I really stood a chance anyway.” He grumbled brushing aside his sibling’s concern. “But hey, she’s got someone in mind, right? Think it’s you?”

“I don’t know.” Saphron said, inwardly hoping it wasn’t. “Father only said that she had decided upon taking a woman in hand. He never said that she had decided who it would be. I’d think it would likely be someone of high station. He was to join in the extended deliberations, apparently Lady Schnee has called for advisement in the matter. That makes it clear she isn’t going to choose from the heart.”

“At least you’ve got a chance, right? That's way more than I'd ever have.”

Saphron smiled softly at Jaune, knowing he wouldn’t understand. “I hope not, actually…”

“What?” He crossed the room, sitting beside his sibling. “Why not, Saph? I thought you’d be excited…”

“Would you really want to be married off to Weiss Schnee of all people?” She asked, although she knew he would have jumped at the chance in a heartbeat. Saphron knew better. She had joined Weiss in bed many times, but that was just to blow off a little steam. It was sexual excitement, little more. It had no ground to stand on, no emotional attachment. They weren’t exclusive, never had been. It wasn’t even something that anyone knew about, because Weiss expected it to be kept hidden. “She is a very cold person, Jaune, and very busy. I’d imagine the person she chooses would end up finding themselves very lonely.”

“Saphron…” Jaune said slowly, sighing as he shook his head. “This is a big thing, huge really. You know how rare it is to find someone when you’re…” He struggled with the word. Had difficult speaking it, because while he had an open mind, it was not something he could bring himself to understand. It was made even more awkward because it was his sister he spoke with. He wanted her to be happy, but thinking of her falling in love with another woman was just a step too far out of reach. “Women don’t look for other women all the time. It’s a blue moon situation.”

“You’re right.” Saphron told him. “It is, but I want to be married to a person I love. Someone who loves me in return. I can tell you for a fact that she never would never find a place in her heart for me.”

“Think of it, though! Being married to Weiss Schnee, lady of the lands. Being her consort, it’s the highest honor you could ask for…” It was then that Jaune grinned. “Besides, she’s beautiful. Like, really, really beautiful. Even when she’s angry, she’s amazing.”

“As you say, she’s the lady of the lands. To me, that isn’t a good thing. She isn’t like our father, able to return from his work with no concerns other than his family. His low station promises low obligations. It's not the same for her. She has to worry for everyone, has to think of others before herself. There is a lot of responsibility in that. Her spouse will need to understand that.”

“I mean yeah, but I think it’s that way for every family, right?”

"You're looking through rose tinted glasses." Saphron told him. “Whoever she chooses will be forced to carry her children and be complicit to her needs. Any personal whims would come secondary, if at all. Such high esteem sounds wonderful to the ear, but I don’t want to sacrifice my heart that way. Any woman who married her would need to, Jaune. For the good of everyone. I don't want that."

* * *

Weiss had chosen a very select number of her most trusted to sit at the table. This matter not to be decided by the whims of idiocy. Only the enlightened sat among her, those aware of her interests and kind enough to consider them. She had thinned down the stack notably, but several women left her conflicted. Their papers and credits were fine to look at, any one of them could have been plucked and partaken as a wife.

However, Weiss wanted a perfect matching. She needed to choose carefully, because once married it would be set in stone. A future she could not change or alter without direct insult to a vast many people.

“So it seems we’ve now come to Lady Nikos.” Weiss replied, because surely the woman would be there by default. “Suitable, but to raise her station would remove her from her position as my bodyguard.”

“Yes, it would, but bodyguards are meant to be replaced by their nature.” James told her.

“She is an intellectual as well.” Glynda added. “Quite gifted in conversation and beloved by many. She would be very well received, I’d think.”

“An only child, mind you.” Lord Ebi said, agreeing happily. “There would not be an insult to a male sibling. I’d think that’s a point to consider.”

Idly she wondered if it seemed odd to discuss the merits of each woman so openly. If it was not in some way impolite. When it came to noble weddings, there was a lot to consider. Those of lesser standing simply chose out of love, based their choice on that merit. Those of middling station perhaps had their marriages arranged for them by relatives. The virtues and faults of the coupling were not openly discussed, at least not as far as Weiss knew. Yet her station was a particular one. It called for these measures in her personal opinion. If it was uncouth, so be it. If it was a method that proved effective, that’s all she cared for.

“I wouldn’t be concerned even if there were someone to offend.” Weiss said dryly. "Besides, any make sibling that could be offended would be short sighted if he took issue. His station will rise favorably too, though lesser to his sibling."

“There are her features as well.” James said then. “Lady Nikos is very attractive and has the eyes of many young men. I am sure you see her beauty.”

“Ah yes.” Lord Arc replied. “She is a looker, that one. Has her mother’s eyes and incredible grace. Though she has her father’s talents, let’s not forget that.”

“Take her off the front lines in battle though, and you’re an idiot.” Qrow groused out lazily. “She can’t be expected to fight alongside you in war if she’s your wife. She’ll have kids to look after, can risk leaving them orphaned. Pyrrha’s the perfect body guard for you because her semblance makes armed combat against her damned near impossible. Tacitly, it’s stupid as hell.”

Weiss nodded, the man had a point. It removed Lady Niko entirely from what little considerations Weiss had of her. She didn’t voice it, keeping her thoughts to herself. “What of Lady Elm, she is of note isn’t she?”

“One of my finest in the field.” James said.

“She’s brash to a point of no return.” Lord Arc grumbled.

“No more than many huntresses we’ve already spoken about at length.” Glynda replied. “She doesn’t hold the same station as other noble ladies, though.”

“Few huntresses are within the highest standings within the noble courts.” James said then, agreeing with the sentiment. “I suggested them based upon meritorious character.”

“That does little to dispel my concerns.” Lord Arc replied. “I’d doubt she’d be fit for motherhood, and there are rumors that she’s lame. Incapable anyway.”

“Doubtful, if there is any fault with that, it would likely be the man to blame.” Lord Ebi said. “She travels at my side often. I know enough to know she’s likely not. Word of that sort tends to get around. The march would be lonely otherwise. Though I’m sure you tossed that barb out because you have something personal to gain from this.”

Weiss spoke before the two men could get into an argument, as they were often prone to do. “You call yourself a friend her hers, Lord Ebi?”

“You could say that.” He nodded.

“Then if you were to criticize her character in any way, what would that be? Weiss asked the man. “Surely you’d have at least one complaint if you are by her side so often.”

“My concern would be that she is ill suited to rise her station, perhaps.” Lord Ebi replied. “She isn’t fond of royal gatherings, she hates them. You’d be arguing with her to no end, she so rarely makes appearances.”

“This leaves me with a final question.” Weiss said slowly, picking up the final set of papers. “It did not slip passed my notice, Lord Arc, that all of your daughters come highly recommended. That you did so personally. Surely for a man of your station there should only be one or two. I wonder why the liberty has been taken. Do you believe every one of your daughters suit me to perfection? Or were you merely tossing them all at me in hopes that numbers alone would earn you favoritism?"

“It was nothing of the sort, my lady.” He replied slowly, eyes downcast to the table. “It is that as their father, I could not hope to choose. Honestly, if I had my way of it, I would have wished my son suitable. Would have placed him before you, yet you called upon women only. That he is not applicable forces me to take great pause. Each of my own daughters are quite lovely, you see. I wouldn’t want to consider one of them lesser than the rest in any way. If I had to choose one, I had to choose them all.”

Weiss thought on this, finding the redundancy in bloodline an interesting predicament for the man. So many daughters, he’d be lucky if he managed to couple them all. He was a softer man than most. She took his words as truth, inclined to question him further. “Speaking then of my interests, Lord Arc, your son is not among them. Therefore, which of your daughters would you hold in the highest esteem?”

“You would ask that of me?” Lord Arc murmured sadly. “To pick and choose amongst my offspring? As though one is greater than the others in my eyes?”

“You seem to hold you son in such regard, why not your daughters?”

“That is vastly different, my lady. He is the only son I have. If he were to have a brother then I’d face the same conflict, though lesser perhaps.” He reached up, rubbing at the stubble on his chin. “It is a father’s bond with his son. There is pride in that, and a little competition builds a man of fine character I feel. However, daughters are of different ilk. A father should protect his daughters, raise them with a softer hand a mindful temperance. If I were not to cherish each of them, how could I could I say I’ve raised them well? What you ask is a great burden.”

“Yet I have asked.” Weis told him. “I would like the opinion of the man who so raised them. I shall have it.”

“If I must choose, then it must be Saphron.” Lord Arc replied, knowing she would have the most difficulty in finding a suitable spouse. “She is a fine young woman. She is of similar inclination as yourself. My other daughters and many of your other prospects are not. I’d think the similarity of interests would please you, my lady.”

“Interest is of small concern. My spouse will come before me if she wishes to or not. Interests play little role when dynastic matters are close at hand.” Weiss told him. “My station is of utmost place and obligation. What more can you say of her? Unless that is all?"

“No, no, of course there is more to say.” Lord Arc replied. “It is merely that as a father I find it difficult to speak upon those merits when it diminishes the value of her siblings. She is quite pleasing to the eye, somewhat of playful disposition. She keeps a polite tongue in her mouth, would honor you thusly. I doubt she would cause any great annoyance and she isn’t of the mind to argue needlessly. Lastly, perhaps paramount, she is quite gentle with youths. I feel would she would be a fine mother. Her position within the fortress is evidence of that.”

Weiss nodded, gathering the papers and concluding all that she wished to. “That will be all for now. You may take your leave as you see fit. I shall take my own.” She would dispose of the recommendations that didn’t suit her later, without prying eyes to witness it. The group stood properly, bowing with the expected reverence afforded to her. She left with a mind heavy with insight, knowing she had plenty to think upon.

* * *

It was no dynasty that filled her thoughts, though it bubbled in the back of her mind. It was less pressing than the matter of governance that needed to be seen to. She called Blake to her office once more. Her mind had been flooded with questions, far too many of them. She wanted clarity to one of them. She had demanded the Faunus come immediately, that Blake was training in the yard didn't matter.

“Please, take a seat.” Weiss said, already sitting in a nearby armchair with an empty leather bound book in hand. “I mean to ask you a few things. They may be prying, but I require answers.”

“What if I don’t want to answer them?” Blake asked, but she found a chair by the fire either way.

“You are the one that claims the Faunus have been mistreated. If I am to repair anything, I must understand the length of the damage that has been caused. We spoke of the relic, the lack of access Faunus have to it. That is something easy to mend, but I doubt other matters will be.” Weiss said, taking a note upon the empty page. “Tell me the plights they face.”

“I can’t do that…”

“Why ever not?”

“As I told you before, we’re not a monolith.” Blake said then. “You need to travel to the tribes, meet with chieftains. If I were to answer all of your questions, you’d act based on that one way of thinking."

"Actions that need to be taken, apparently."

" You’re the ruler. Do you always act on behest of one voice alone?”

Weiss snapped the book shut, looking at Blake curiously. “No. Of course doing that would be daft, although I assumed you’d be a good a place as any to begin my inquiries.”

“I’m a lone Faunus, I don’t have a tribe.” Blake said. “I won’t speak for them. I’ve told you there are problems, but you’d need to examine them with people who actually deal with your nobles. For example, I know taxation on tribal lands can be quite high, but I don’t know if every tribe sees that as an issue. Some are wealthier than others, I know some can easily pay the required price. Others struggle because they can’t. I’m not sure why. That would be a question based deeply in economic, but it isn’t as if I know the inner workings of every tribe.”

Weiss leaned back in her chair, thinking upon that. She reached for her tea, and the floating lemon dusted gently in sugar. “If what you say is true, then it is not a simple issue. If Faunus truly are part of humanity, there could be many reasons for economic downturn.” She said as she brought it to her lips. “Poor harvests, illness, lack of educated artisans to fashion goods, and a lack of traders to sell them. Those are the common problems I tend to find, but each one may have several causes and require many solutions.”

Blake thought on that, hunching down on her knees. She noticed the blue eyed gaze, Weiss likely didn't approve of the unladylike position. For her part, Blake was too comfortable to care. “If it makes it easier, I can say most tribes find it hard to get to weekly marketplaces. I know that for a fact.”

“Do Faunus not commonly sell their goods?”

“We do, but I speak of the large ones kept by villages and outposts. The places where large multi-village gatherings drift down into community squares.”

“Those market places are open to everyone. Why wouldn’t Faunus attend?”

“The travel can be expensive, not to mention dangerous because of wandering Grimm. Transporting goods demands wagons and pack animals, but tribal lands are too small to house them. Animals like that require a lot of land to graze, and many tribes have too small a territory to keep those sorts of animals fed. Plus, those large marketplaces happen far away from tribal lands. It can take days to cross the terrain because our dirt paths flood out when it rains. Standing water can last weeks, and become filled with mosquitoes carrying disease.”

“Do you not have adequate crossings?”

“We’ve asked for years for wooden crossings to be built where the terrain floods the most, but we’ve always been refused. Meanwhile, villages receive wooden crossing all the time. Some of the larger ones even get bridges made of stone. Some villages allow Faunus to use their paths for a crossing fee, but that also adds to the expense and extends the journey. From what I understand, the noble lord in charge refuses to hear the tribes out.”

Weiss rubbed her eyes. “That would be Lord Winchester to blame for this. He oversees the marshes and is one of the noble lords to have dealings in construction across my lands. I’ll have word with him on that. That he denies you costs me valued income. Faunus make some of the finest silk money can buy. Speaking of, how do Faunus manage to do that? Our silk worms can't compare, we've tried."

"That's because worms aren't what we use." Blake nodded, but her ears folded downward. “There is a plant that we harvest, but its care and processing is a well kept secret among Faunus tribes. I would never tell you how to do that. It's one of the only things wealthy humans buy from us. If we told you how we did it, you'd never buy from us again. Plus, the plants we use are in our lands, if human wanted access we'd lose even more of our territory."

"If I were to promise that you wouldn't?"

"A promise you could only keep during your reign." Blake said, sitting back in the chair and crossing her arms. "You can't find them in the forests and fields, they're only in the shallow waters. Honestly, you really should talk to the tribes on this. Particularly about the silk, I can’t meaningfully speak about it. Even in my own tribe, I was never allowed to work with the plants. That sort of thing takes years to learn, and I was needed elsewhere."

“I have asked for your opinion, regardless.”

“The chieftains would know how to answer every single one of your questions. They'd know the expenses, the trades, and the matriarchs keep close ties among themselves. They’d know best what needs to be done."

"At this time, that is not within my means."

"You’d be a fool not to reach out. If you really plan on giving Faunus a chance at equality you have to speak to them!”

Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose. She had no time for that. Cinder Fall was plotting something, Salem was nowhere to be located, and the question of marriage and progeny was upon her shoulders. Any one of these things would gobble up her time as it was. She understood the Faunus now needed attention too, but where was she to find the time to speak with them? Weiss had assumed Blake would prove to be the simple answer to that problem, but the woman refused.

So what of Blake then? Did she seek to subvert the suffering of Faunus? Was her defiance to authority because of humanity’s failings? Was it because of something different? Weiss had no idea, and her questions went deeper still. What of their society within Faunus tribes? What declaration of power decided their rulers? Was it patriarchal? Certainly not, or Blake would not lay claim to her fallen tribe’s lands. Was it bloodline then? That she was Ghira’s daughter, did that decide it? If so, what did that mean for Blake? For the Faunus as a whole? What qualities did they search for in a spouse? What arrangements were made based on those deciding factors? What of sexual intrigue? Did it hold merit?

Surely it must! Yet, how deep did it go?

Now that was a grave question…

Sexual intrigue would indeed decide many courses of action. Marriage, progeny, the unification of family line. Inheritance of trades, skills passed from parent to offspring. Wealth and land ownerships, did that fall to the males or the females? Did it matter? Were there dowries involved? Was it similar to humans? Did forbidden relationships take place behind closed doors? Did profound bloodlines among Faunus tradition dictate those relationships? Did they cast such things aside? Were there taboos? If so, what of them?

This woman sat before her, a wealth of information. Weiss greedily wanted it. She would have it somehow, she decided. She would come to know these truths, come to understand them, because her word was law and she demanded answers. She would not be an ill-suited ruler. She would not perpetuate thoughtless abuse to those within her lands. If the Faunus had been so terribly wronged, she would correct the injustice. Still, Weiss could not deny that Blake Belladonna was a profound mystery. All of these questions deepened that mystery. The abyss between them becoming unthinkably large, impossible to fathom.

Enticing, maddening, desirable, yet infuriating.

She couldn’t help but wonder about this Faunus woman. Her needs, her desires. Bake never once sought the touch of another. Why deny such a thing? Was it just ambition that kept Blake away from romance? Merely inexperience that intimidated her? Or was it because Blake had never taken her matriarchal journeys? It was a sacrosanct tradition among Faunus. Did she deny herself congress with others because of that?

Her inquiring mind wanted to know!

“Let us return to the discussion from the other night.” Weiss said then. “Of my interests in you. Let us discuss that.”

“I don’t see what that has to do with anything.” Blake said. “I still think your feelings may be misplaced.”

“Perhaps so, but one would never know that without first testing the waters.”

“You’re kidding...”

“Certainly not…”

“We hardly know each other…”

“Then it is apt way to learn more, yes?”

“What?! No it isn’t, that not how things work…”

Weiss lifted an eyebrow. “In fairness, how could you claim to know that if you have never once experienced it?”

“Because!” Blake squeaked between sighing and feeling flustered. “It’s just not…”

Weiss inclined her head, tilting it slowly as she considered the Faunus in front of her. “In further fairness, you are right that it wouldn’t be the way to usually understand someone. Many times it would muddy understanding, but we are two people where words conflict and minds do not meet. We can both admit to some level of attraction, an unseen force. We clearly do not hate one another, so perhaps we must change the approach in which we see each other. Sexual acts removes barriers, forces them away.”

“Well, you have an odd way of coming onto someone, I’ll give you that.” Blake bit out dryly. “Over rationalization, that’s a first.”

“You were the one to first bring the matter up, least you forget. You asked of my interest, so I placed it before you. It is you that questions as well, or you would not have asked in the first place.” Weiss replied, a cool tone. Measured and entirely intentional. “If I wanted you beneath me so badly, I’d simply order it. If I didn’t have any mind to take your refusal, I’d simply glyph you against the nearest wall. Yet I do have a mind to accept refusal, just as I have a mind to understand your place within the world. I thought I did, but that is clearly false."

“Either way, you’re about as subtle as a sledgehammer…”

“I speak my intentions plainly, there is little wrong with that. For all that you claim my attraction to you to be insanity, you’ve admitted it doesn’t bother you. You’re hesitant, annoyed, and needlessly string me along. You could have claimed disinterest at any time. Told me my inquiries were not to your desire or to your liking. You haven’t, and therefore you open yourself to further pursuit.”

“So you want me to tell you no, plain and simple, is that it?”

“That is usually the way a person firmly uninterested displays the concept.” Weiss told her. “So then, is that your answer?”

Blake said nothing, fingers curling in on themselves. Why couldn’t she just get it over with? Why did she let Weiss pursue her? She said nothing as time passed. The ticking clock upon the wall growing to be too much. “You ask me, like it’s that simple.”

“To me, it is. It does not require complication.”

“Yeah, well to me it isn’t so easy…”

“If it is a lack of experience that keeps you away from pleasures of the flesh, I could easily instruct you.” Weiss replied, the statement offhand at best. Cast out into the still air because it was rare to find that interest openly spoken about. That fact that Blake went untouched was yet another log onto the fire, because that was entirely rare to find. She wanted to learn more of this woman, and there was no greater way than partaking her.

“Hold on…” Blake said, her mind backing up a step. “That’s not the problem here. I’m a Faunus and you’re a Schnee. We’re only just starting to get on good terms. Doesn’t that tell you how messed up something like this is?”

“Does it not say more to you that a Faunus stands here in the fortress sharing the conversion at all?” Weiss asked her, because in truth she was note entirely sure of that herself. She could suspect it spoke volumes to Blake, but the woman’s mind was never something she had been able to pin down. “Doesn’t that imply more than any presuppositions prior to it?”

“Point taken.” Blake said softly, chewing on the words because she had no idea what else to do with them. No other Faunus had ever gotten that chance.

“You must understand, you have fractured many logics that I once held true.” Weiss told her. “You continue to do so, and with that enlightenment comes more questions. Many of them, and you now refuse me answers. So be it… you wish for me to speak with the tribes, I will. However, personal matters between us have not been adequately solved. I find that distasteful. I had been hoping to learn more about you through your plights and concerns. You will not offer that, so we return then to the confines of sexual desire.”

Weiss wondered what Blake truly thought. Here was a woman, inhuman by her nature, and yet seemingly not any different. She held no plans to thwart the subtle hierarchy of the royal courts. Had no need to need to further family reputation or gain particular favor. In point of fact, Blake had done everything possible to lose favorable standing. Doing her utmost to offend and annoy the lady of the lands. Sought to talk back at every turn, defiant and willful. Weiss had come to understand that Blake’s willfulness came from her spirit.

Fierce and primal ambition guided her. Pride and passion was bendable, but unbreakable. It wasn’t that Blake wanted to snap good sense in half. She didn’t want to remove it from the foundation of life itself. It was merely that where she found sense at all came from a perspective that was intractably different by its very nature. Weiss Schnee knew a great many people, but Bake Belladonna was the first person to shake her ideology to its very core.

Upturning it, tossing it, and leaving it on a bare thread, much like a yoyo or a spinning top. Crushing it firmly, like monster that destroyed a child’s toys.

“You’re really serious, aren’t you?” Blake murmured, looking down at her hands when those blue eyes became far too much.

“Insane, no?” Weiss asked dryly. “This drive… it is beyond reason, but there it is. Take of it what you will…”

“Weiss… I…”

“Hmm?” Weiss sounded placidly.

“I still don’t understand you.” Blake said, looking back up to her.

“I’d like to think that you are right, Blake. I'd like to believe you're not lying to me. I hope your words are true. That I was wrong to believe Faunus were somehow removed from humanity. However if that is true, it makes any wrongness I’d once thought to exist between us categorically misplaced. That is of consideration. Exploration of those possibilities becomes paramount to me.”

“I don’t see where all of this is coming from. It’s strange to me, so far away from what I thought you’d say. I still can’t believe it, let alone wrap my head around it.”

Weiss nodded, acknowledging that. Blake spoke with such familiarity too, because the title itself was always left ignored. The fact that a deep blush had painted itself across her features was a pleasant image. It was responsive, lacking particular shame. That Blake hesitated in this was unsatisfactory to the noble, Weiss wanted a favorable replay. Failing that, was honesty so much to ask for?

“As I said, you may decline this. I will not take offense at an honest refusal.” The lady of the lands said earnestly. “However, I could never abide allowing a matter such as this to go unresolved. If you wish to think of possible toxicity between us, this would breed it. An answer of personal certainty can be respected an upheld. An answer made with excuses could never hold that same power. Excuses fracture, they crumble, and misunderstandings result. I won’t leave this attraction between us to be further questioned.”

“Don’t get me wrong. You’re very beautiful, and it’s nice to think you actually see me as a person now…” Blake murmured softly. “I just feel… lost… in all of this…”

“You may consider this something of an experiment of you wish it.” Weiss replied thoughtfully. “In truth it would be for me as well. This congress I suggest, it is not of my usual partaking.” It was only honesty, because she had never taken a Faunus to bed, knew little of their sexual practices. Actually, it seemed she knew so little of them at all. “Odd though it is, you may call me curious and define it as strictly that. Doing so may make it easier to decide a course of action. I look no further than to satiate that curiosity.”

Well that at least, Blake could fathom. Felt a fair bit herself, because Weiss remained a mystery. Even so, what was to be gained from this? Did Weiss know something she didn’t? Well, she clearly wasn’t the same as Sun. Weiss wasn’t looking for some sort of future. “Aright, I’ll admit it. I am curious as well. So, in the interest of an experiment…”

“Very well.” Weiss replied. “We should go to more comfortable surroundings.”

“Wait.” Blake said, rooted to her spot even as Weiss stood up and made her way to the door. “You mean right now? At this very moment?”

Hand outstretched at the handle, Weiss took her own pause. Was she missing something? She thought not, but clearly Blake certainly seemed to think so. “Is this moment unappealing?”

“Well, no...” Blake said taking a breath and running a hand through her hair. “It’s just that… well, this is all very sudden.”

Weiss blinked slowly, realizing that someone so inexperienced could misconstrued the facts. Nobles were expected to keep their wits about them. Cool and methodical logic was simply second nature. Particularly when it came to the logics of the Schnee and Ironwood fortresses. It likely didn’t help that Weiss surrounded herself with men, many of whom were not the type to make grand displays of affection. James often murmured something about village women requiring a gentler hand, a concept Weiss had never needed to utilize.

It would be intimidating, this cold calculating logic. Placidity was usually a direct invitation. Proof alone that she was not displeased in the slightest, a warm enough welcome to any of her royal court. Blake was not among them. Didn’t know to read between the subtle lines. For someone one so unused to it, it would probably come across as overbearing.

Likely more so for someone of no noble station at all. Weiss allowed herself only a glimmer of gentleness to reach her eyes.

She reached out a hand, guiding Blake to her, leaning upward to place a hand on Blake’s cheek. Soft but firm guidance was all that Blake needed to brush lips with Weiss’s own. A simple meeting, but deliberate all the same. Blake’s eyes fluttered closed as that slender thumb caressed her cheek. It was maddening that even just this felt so incredibly wonderful. That she had been missing out on something so immense her entire life, denying it for a long list of reasons.

It helped that Weiss was surprisingly gentle. Her other hand effortlessly sliding around her waist, pulling her closer. Fleeting as the kiss was, Weiss pulled away to regard the woman she was about to take to bed. “You have nothing to fear of me, not at this time. I ask that you join me now so that we may enjoy each other’s company.”

Blake nodded, because her brain was stilled completely fried. She didn’t want to speak gibberish, but she was sure that she would.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Purely a sexual chapter containing lesbian sex. Can be skipped. No focus on plot.

.

** Dilectio  
Chapter 17 **

Blake wondered about so many things, each one far more disturbing to the senses than she cared to admit. What was she doing? Why agree to this?

She followed Weiss down the hall, unsure of what to expect, and entirely at the mercy of the unknown. Weiss took her to the bedroom, leaving it dark. Blake’s night vision allowed her to see exceptionally well. Despite this, Weiss gave her no chance to truly take in her new surroundings. As the door closed, their lips met once more. Blake was sure the room was elegantly furnished with anything and everything Weiss might demand of her day-to-day life. However the details popped like small bubbles, as Weiss allowed her fingers to roam.

The kiss broke when Blake squeaked softly. Pale fingers worked their way beneath the hem of her combat attire. The tight fitting black shirt a mix of strongly woven mesh chain and cloth. The noble made quick work of it, pulling it over Blake’s head, mindful of the Faunus ears that may otherwise be disturbed by it. Weiss watched carefully for any hesitation in the glittering eyes of the Faunus. The way they nearly glowed in the darkness was a boon Weiss usually didn’t have the luxury to witness. She listened for the sounds of refusal as she moved to Blake’s under armor, a thick cotton tunic protecting her should the outer armor lose durability.

Weiss cast it away carelessly, leaving only a soft cotton wrapping that supported Blake’s breasts, the knot easily untied as it fell away too. Though her eyesight was not as good as Blake’s own, they needed not be. Her hands roamed easily over soft breasts. The full contours of them divine, the richness of soft skin a joy to drink in. Weiss leaned up to kiss Blake again, but the height difference was rather noticeable and she kept it brief. She planted a trail of kisses more comfortable at her height, feeling Blake stiffen beneath her.

Blake’s own hands had found their way to slender hips, but failed to move beyond that.

Weiss knew to expect the hesitancy, to heed it with caution. Women with no experience were interesting that way. The way their breath hitched, the way they fluttered about beneath her fingers. Each new touch a sensation they’d never known. A bedfellow who knew what they liked, knew how to expect it. They'd show their approval clearly and concisely. Nearly brazen. A virgin untouched, unclaimed, showcased differently. They were not the same. Blake’s subdued reaction was by no means refusal, but Weiss took the appropriate pause to check anyway.

“You will find the bed suitable.” Weiss murmured, more of an afterthought than anything else.

Blake nodded because she wasn’t sure of anything. Didn’t trust herself to do anything more. Assuming Weiss would guide this dance and whatever it might entail. She padded over uneasily to the bed. A thump of cloth falling from behind her. The idea that Weiss was undressing made her shiver. If it was in anticipation or dread, the butterflies in her belly had not yet decided. Blake sat down on shaky legs, resisting the urge to cover her breasts, still feeling the warm if the lips that had fallen over them moments before.

That maddeningly warm sensation that on one else had ever attempted.

Weiss met her clad only in the silk wrappings that concealed her breasts and womanhood. Everything else discarded and forgotten.

“You need not do anything if it makes you uncomfortable. However, you may touch me as you wish. I will correct you if I find it unpleasant.” Weiss said as she edged forward, taking another kiss from the Faunus, her slender fingers falling over bare shoulders and their scars. Signs of an aura that had been broken. Proof that Blake survived it when many others would not.

Blake wanted to reach out, to reciprocate. To feel more of the warm body that had begun pressing into her. Yet she could do no more than grip the bed sheets, focused entirely on the kiss and the sensations being gifted to her. Each soft caress following lines, scars that would never completely fade. Lavishing each one in with care. With hands that were shaky, hard to control, she fumbled around for the knot in the cloth. Trying desperately to locate it, to untie it and reveal this woman further.

This kiss broke with gentle breath. A hand met her own, wordless guidance. Where Blake’s knot was often tied to the side, Weiss kept hers at her back, tucked neatly into the wrappings seamlessly. Tentatively Blake began to loosen the knot, to work it free of itself and freeing the cloth. It unraveled with little sound. Although Weiss was built petite, her breasts were the perfect size. Weiss stood still, allowing Blake a moment to gaze upon her. Unflinchingly at ease with the burning gaze upon her.

If only Blake felt the same. Instead, she felt both thrill and fear, because what else was she to feel? Here in front of her a woman of supremacy, and yet here they were doing something like this. There was no way it could be possible, but here she was. She reached out slowly, taking a breast in her palm, fondling it with great care. Weiss released a soft sigh, pressing into her in search of more.

It was intoxicating to say the least.

Weiss allowed the slow explorations. Gave Blake time to fathom this moment, to witness the weight of it all. It was important to appease the curiosity, to indulge the whims. She had promised Blake that she would show her the ways of this joy. To educate her in the matters that took place beyond closed doors. To do that, she must allow Blake’s caution, comfort it where she was able. It was important to hold herself to discipline, despite the fact that she desired more than the wayward caress. This Weiss knew, because to rush this would be painful for a woman never plundered.

There was a time and place for quickness, but that came with knowledge Blake didn’t own. Where the mind did the work to prepare the body, making womanhood slick and yielding due to desire in and of itself. Blake couldn’t be expected to ascertain that, because it wasn’t only that Blake didn’t know what the lady of the land liked most. It was that she hadn’t been given the opportunity to explore any woman. To know that all sorts of touches brought valued pleasure. A breast was the obvious choice, but it was only the beginning.

Weiss decided it was time to show her what magic the body held. What unfathomable experiences were locked away deep to be discovered. She descended upon the Faunus. While the woman was sitting, she was taller and used that advantage to offer a molten hot kiss unlike the others. Those had been soft, slow to allow acclimation, but Weiss wanted her now. This kiss was that of wordless command, sinking deep into the both of them, carrying Blake along in its tides.

Seeking more of this prize, Weiss pressed into Blake with intent. The force enough to imply she wanted Blake beneath her entirely. To lay spread upon the bed. Guidance the Faunus took, it didn’t matter it lacked grace. Weiss wasn’t brought to care, wildly enthralled by the concept that this woman’s first experience was hers to take. With great care to make her intentions obvious, she began to finish undressing the Faunus, each scrap of cloth from leggings to boots discarded and tossed sideways.

Weiss drank it all in, enjoyed the vague sights that were shadowed in the night. A nip to Blake’s neck caused a gasp, and Weiss smirked with her lips atop that soft skin as she pinched a pert nipple between her fingers. There was power within that form, lithe and supple, but power no less. A strength only a huntress could have. Aura responding to the sensations, flickering outward, a tiny lightshow in the darkness setting Blake’s curvaceous body aglow. The protective barrier of the soul responding to these new feelings stirring within.

“Oh god.” Blake groaned, ears twitching, attempting to fold in on themselves. Something deep within her core clenched. Her eyes closed and her back arched. Body attempting to follow the fingertips that held her breast captive. It didn’t hurt, not really, but Blake felt her aura flair. A wild burst of electricity from within. “What’s happening to me?”

“Let this be your first lesson.” Weiss said in a soft heated tone. She had always found the response of aura captivating, sought it out because this was a rare sight. Many had a habit of containing it to enhance their pleasure. Blake hadn’t known to do so, and wouldn’t be able to contain it until her mind caught up with her body. Understanding that these feelings were no threat. “Aura is the soul manifested. You need not harm somebody to inspire it to act.”

“Should I…” Blake made to ask if Weiss wanted something from all this. If there was something she could do, but found the question impossible to voice as she huffed out a breath. “Do you… gods…”

“Do not concern yourself with my needs. Sink into this feeling.” Weiss commanded gently. “Allow it to consume you.”

A sharp pang of need tore through Blake’s body as Weiss lowered her lips to that creamy skin, replacing fingers with her teeth and tongue as her hands drifted where they may. Feeling for herself every curve, and following those tiny shows of light as if chasing them away. Each caress only to call more of them to the surface. Blake’s voice met the air, a plea she didn’t quite understand as her hands lifted up to pull Weiss closer. To rest her hands at her back, feeling warmed skin being cooled by the night air. Trying to smother out the heat began to pool and twirl. The textbook definition of arousal she had been told about, but never personally experienced firsthand.

“Try not to fight against your aura.” Weiss murmured against that pert nipple, nipping it gently before offering a soft lick to sooth its ache. Avoiding aura’s call was the common place thing to do. In combat it responded to threat. Feeling it flicker was the onset of damage, a dangerous thing. Yet, arousal was just as stimulating to the senses. Causing aura to dance and play when it was free to do so. Southbound trickling light was proof that Blake was ready for more. “The soul most knows what it needs. Let it guide you.”

Weiss trailed her left hand, more dexterous than her right, abiding that unspoken call. Down Blake’s belly, across her thigh, then inward still. Flowing up to the apex where that guiding light dissipated Weiss found that slick arousal she had been expecting. Blake bucked into her hands, another sound meeting the air as Weiss explored those folds with gentle precision. Pulling her hand away she inspected that slickness that glazed her finger tips.

She didn’t explain the method to her seeming madness. Didn’t want the Faunus to know Weiss made the habit of inspecting her bedmates. A skill Blake would also come to learn if she enjoyed this act often enough. This lesson to come later. For now, Weiss was pleased at Blake’s arousal. To find its clarity, not too thick or stringy. The scent not too strong, a gentle musk. Blake was a healthy woman, a fertile one. The barriers she kept on hand for questionable bedfellows would not be needed here.

Weiss looked longingly into Blake’s glassy-eyed expression. Watching that puzzled twist in her lips and soft breath. Without explanation Weiss tasted that wetness for herself, meeting that gaze fully, erotically. Blake's taste a complex mix all her own, not at all unpleasant. It was a pressing question answered, and Weiss knew she would fully enjoy this. “I am going to take you, huntress. This is the last moment of refusal.”

“Don’t stop.” Blake said, because she enjoyed this insane feeling. This crazy inexplicable need. She knew enough to know it was normal, but not enough to understand its conclusion. She desperately wanted to.

“Very well.” Weiss murmured. “I shall thoroughly enjoy you, Blake. All you need to do is follow your body’s command. I will greet it with my own. It is imperative you find a rhythm that suits you best.”

Weiss laid her body over Blake’s own, one thigh coming up to rest weight where it most mattered. That tiny bud nestled at the apex of womanhood, and those lower lips sensitive to touch. Weiss moved slowly, testing her position. Blake bucked into it with a soft whine, meeting that weight fully. The first sensation was beyond words, but the second and third small waves were not. Something was lessening. Trying to gain more of that blessed friction from before was frustratingly hard to attain. Because her hips could not find the spot that Weiss had.

The woman above her noticed, shifting her weight. More pressure this time, hands falling to Blake’s hips to help guide her. Relocating to that precious spot sent a shiver down Blake’s spine, and Weiss moved against it, slicking her thigh with that wet heated desire. Each pass easier, more fluid in rhythm as Blake began to grind against it. Shockwaves of pleasure flowing over her, growing stronger by the moment. Tides of feeling she had never felt before began to sweep her mind blank of the thoughts chaining her.

She wanted more. Weiss silenced Blake’s gasps and moans with kisses. Dormant mindless requests falling between Blake’s lips. Musical perfection, that made Weiss quiver, her own wetness difficult to ignore, and the swath of fabric still containing her womanhood collecting it. Restraint a virtue wearing thin as Blake’s pleasure mounted and crested. Orgasm tumbling over the Faunus, and driving Weiss mad with want of her own.

Want she would not be taking, because her mind had already conjured other plans. As their pace slowed, Weiss allowed Blake a moment to recover, releasing her hips and gently pulling her sopped thigh away. The cold air hitting it, and proving just how much their passions had kept them warm. Weiss reached out across her massive bed, ignoring the blanket, separating it, and yanking the white silk sheet over them.

“You are responsive to your soul, keen to follow it to orgasmic release.” Weiss replied. “This is a very promising sign.”

Blake was breathless, but as clarity started coming back to her she couldn’t help but be taken aback by the formalities Weiss kept close at hand. Blake was lost for words at that, one ear flicking against the soft feather pillow. Was it supposed to be some sort of compliment? She laughed at the remark despite herself. It seemed like such an odd thing to say. Then again, perhaps this was normal for a casual encounter.

“Did you think I wouldn’t be?” Blake asked as Weiss moved beneath the sheet, doing something Blake couldn’t see.

“It was not that I concluded it one way or the other prior to the act.” Weiss said, undoing the knot of fabric, removing the last undergarment upon her. Hips rising up as she sighed, unwinding the cloth that had begun to be annoying. “Rather, you will come to find that not all women are built equally. It can be difficult on occasion to find gratification. Particularly if one holds back due to mental discomfort, a commonality among novices.” She pulled out the cloth from under the sheets, laying it to the side and out of her way. “I cannot speak to what may hold true to men, but I find that women are often most enjoyed when their mind and body align.”

“Oh…” Blake trailed off. Was she supposed to reciprocate this? What did Weiss feel of her, had she gained anything from it? “Do you… want me to…?” A hand slipping up from the sheets offered a gesture.

Weiss said nothing to this, rolling closer to Blake and enjoying merely that for the moment. She considered the thought, pondered it a moment. Enticing as it was, she never made the habit of expecting someone so new at the art of physical congress to live up to her expectations. That was for concubines and those Weiss frequented most. “You’d find that difficult, I’d think.”

“Why’s that?”

“Give me your hand.” Weiss told her, taking it without waiting as she drifted it down Blake’s body. Down the neatly kept pubic hair and farther still. That sensitive bundle of nerves was peeking out in a welcome greeting. She pressed Blake’s finger to it, watching the Faunus tense as her eyes blew wide. “You feel that, I take it.”

“Y-you might say that.” Blake said shakily, not expecting to be so sensitive, or so wet.

“Once you are properly prepared, it tends to pert expectantly as yours is now. It will relax with time, and when it does you will require such preparation again. However as I said, we are not all built equally.” It was then Weiss moved Blake’s hand, spreading her own legs wide and allowing Blake to palm her wet womanhood slowly. Guiding her how to best part those moist lips that quivered for attention. A soft sigh falling from her lips.

“Gods…” Blake murmured softly, because she could feel the way Weiss tenses softly beneath her touch. “You’re soaked…”

“As I should be.” Weiss hummed softly in pleasure. She wasn’t one to be particularly loud often, certainly not now. Guiding Blake further, Weiss pressed a single finger against her own clitoris. Allowing Blake to slide against it. She sighed at that feeling, a hot puff of breath. She wished to sink into it, but needed to explain a crucial detail. “Some women do not respond as aptly as you do. Certainly, I do not. Though I am as ready as you are, mine is smaller. It is harder to locate the perfect angle with a thigh and steady pressure.”

Blake nodded wordlessly at this, beginning to rub it softly. Then Weiss stopped her, pulled her hand away.

“It is also perhaps more sensitive. It must be handled with care.” Weiss said pointedly, looking into the amber eyes that saw her so clearly in this dark room. “I do not enjoy it being touched that way for a prolonged period of time. I am best serviced orally, and I would not ask that of you.”

“You mean with my mouth?” That was something she had never heard spoken about in conversation. Then again, those sorts of things weren’t exactly considered polite conversation at all. She’d never had a lover, so why would she have known? “People do that?”

“It is no simple task, that method. There is far more to pay attention to.”

“I could try, I suppose.”

“Not on this night, you have far more to learn. I have planned to enjoy all you have to offer, so I shall. I am not done with you yet by far, I merely found it best to allow you to recover before partaking the main event of this coupling. You’ve not yet been deflowered, and though I suspect combat has broken that barrier long ago, I intend to have access to your depths. You’ll soon understand the joys of oral gratification, take pleasure in its complexity.”

“You’re going to do it to me?” Blake wondered.

Weiss nodded. “It is an indecorous thing, such a position. Hence the sheet.”

Weiss slid beneath the sheet. A lazy caress, fingers sliding across skin and the press of lips. One kiss against each knee. The lady of the lands lingering a moment, thumbs gliding across smooth skin before parting those long legs. Gliding up them, movement beneath the sheets showing that impossible trajectory. Weiss settled there casting a breath across Blake’s womanhood. A delicate tongue followed probing there. The action filled with lust.

Blake released a shuttering breath. She hadn’t known what to expect of oral gratification, but she had never dreamed it would feel quite like this. In truth she hadn’t assumed it would feel much like anything at all. Couldn’t fathom the nature of a tongue that gliding against her flesh, or what sensations the act would conjure up. Now she marveled at her own ineptitude, because this was beyond her dreams. Making her hips twitch with every flick, and curl with every flat press of wet grinding pressure. Her entire body at the whim of that contact, acting on its own without her direction.

She felt the soft scarping of carefully manicured nails against her inner thoughts, the swirl of a tongue against that tiny bud. Those fingers drifting closer, two of them falling to the puffy outer lips of her womanhood. Weiss using her other hand to lay a palm flat upon her hip.

Weiss worked that tender flesh, tested it and teased it, because she didn’t just want Blake wet, she needed her sopping. Though difficult training and the tides of battle often ripped maidenhood, it was imperative that those depths be prepared to accept entry. Fingers moistened themselves against that slick heat, the tremors she coaxed a keen indication that Blake would have easily melted this way if Weiss allowed it. The lady of the lands had no intention of allowing the Faunus her climax without first understanding that there were more places of intrigue.

She curled her tongue, tangling it fully around that small numb, pulling it into her mouth to suckle it gently. The moan she earned was heavenly, and along with it came a sound she was not expecting. The vibrato inhuman, soft but growing louder. Some sort of purr mixing heavily into the baited breath and a muttered cuss. She released the Faunus from her ministrations then, siding her tongue within the wet heat one final time, taking the flutter she received a perfect indication. Blake would be no more ready than this.

Weiss pulled back, slid upward, laying herself over the Faunus once more as a hand cupped her heat.

“Are you ready for me, huntress?” Weiss asked, needing to be sure in this. Her finger rubbing gently over that perky little bud. Her own nipples hard and aching pleasantly as they brushed up against Blake’s own.

“Yes.” Blake said, voice crackling against the purr she didn’t have a hope to control.

“I doubt this will be painful, but you may find it a bit uncomfortable at first. Your body needs to accommodate me.” Weiss said, knowing it was unlikely that this woman had ever explored herself. Had very likely never once plundered her own fingers deep inside, because those acts were never encouraged. In the eyes of many, it might as well have been taboo for a woman to do such a thing to herself. A towering shame, really. “You must relax yourself. It is instinct to clench up, a bodily response. Do not fight against me or allow it to frighten you.”

"Okay." Blake said, her voice didn't sounds entirely human. That purr deep in her chest a clear sign of her pleasure.

Weiss took that solitary finger toying circles and lowered it to the entry. It was slick enough to be taken, but she felt the fluttering anew. The same reaction that tried to cling to her tongue in a vice like grip captured her tightly. She followed until she hilted. Stilled as Blake shook violently at the intrusion, as virgin women were ought to do when so tightly coiled.

“Fuck.” Blake groused out between gently clenched teeth, hips tilting to meet that feeling, take it deeper. Her purring ceased as a conflicted whine escaped her lips. Part of her wanted that finger removed immediately, but another part of her wanted it deeper. As if that was at all possible. "Fuck." Blake muttered again.

Weiss found the description an apt one. Her bedfellow was as tight as she expected. Powerful muscles only huntress could possess proving unyielding. If she had been taken by a man, it would have been excruciatingly painful. This intrusion was lesser in size, but no less powerful in response. “Is this hurting you?”

“N-no.” Blake said shaking her head, though she couldn’t help the way her body seemed to push at the intrusion. It was as deliciously wonderful as it was indescribable. “It’s just… new…”

“The desire to push outward will pass.” Weiss murmured, allowing herself to press kisses to Blake’s neck. To soothe this innate reaction insular to profound inexperience. Her suspicion had proven correct. Blake had never once explored herself, or she wouldn’t be nearly so tight from within. Her body lacked the practice of this primal art, and it was greedy sense of pride that Weiss found herself enjoying this. That she was the one to allow Blake this discovery. To also make discoveries of her own.

In truth, Weiss had never understood the need for such personal modesty. Had never assumed it to be a problematic factor. Found it to be a needless hindrance. Something that ought to be corrected, this societal failing. Then again, if it was corrected, she would be denied these chances. Moments that could only be partaken once. That seemed like a pity too.

She could feel Blake’s fluttering begin to cease enough to move. To be able to curl and press upward, extracting her finger and replace it anew. A slow rocking, having no desire to rush or force those depths to submit. The body was wise when the mind was not. Soon it would greet her eagerly, Weiss was sure. She took in Blake’s expression, hooded eyes, lips parting for breath, and the way the ears atop her head folded when her hips followed this dance.

Beautiful. Astoundingly so.

A second finger joined the first, Blake clenching tightly anew. This time Weiss did not cease, not needing too as the soaking depths began to follow her command. A deep moan falling from Blake’s lips. Amber eyes disappeared into the darkness as she eyes closed and her hips began to follow the rhythm. Reappearing, darkened with lust once she used to this intoxicating sensation. Sinking deeply into the feeling felt right, as it had the time before.

Weiss could feel the tension building in Blake’s body. The fluttering no longer wild, following a pattern that Weiss knew well to be the ride and fall of cresting waves. Leaning forward, she captured Blake’s lips in a burning hot kiss, her thumb rising up to fondle the bundle of nerves that promised to sweeten this release. The kiss was made sloppy by that, Weiss swallowing down Blake’s deep moans as she reached the crescendo of pleasure itself. Tumbling down from its height, in a bone shattering orgasm. Blake’s cries were as loud as they were lewd. Leaving absolutely no question as to what was going on in this room if anyone happened to pass by.

Finally…

Finally after that climb and fall, those tides began to ebb. The fluttering began to relax, slowly dying to gentles. Weiss began to slow her act as Blake’s clarity returned. Pulling out completely only once those depths saw no more use for them. The kisses continued, regaining composure, becoming lazy within the darkness until they eventually ceased too. Both women pulling away.

Blake exhaustedly satisfied, and Weiss by her side ruminating on the events with a pleasant buzzing she would long enjoy.

Several long moments passed before the white haired woman spoke. “You see what I mean now, I assume… this oddity between us?”

Blake felt like she was floating, but she couldn’t deny feeling a heaviness lurking within her. Part of it she knew to be shame, the other she had no words for. “I can’t believe we just did that…”

"Did you dislike it?"

"No."

“Then do not dwell on it. We found it satisfactory. That is all that needs to be considered.” Weiss replied, because this was a one-time thing. Never to be repeated. “Rest now, allow sleep to take you.”

Blake quieted, curling into the lady of the lands. Restless at first, post orgasmic bliss at war with logic. The rational mind trying to make sense of it all.

Weiss allowed it, this closeness. Normally she wouldn’t, but this was alien for the Faunus. She would not be mean spirited enough to cast her from the bed, it would inspire a torrent of thoughts not meant to be kept. It was her utmost responsibility to beat them back and keep them at bay. This night exclusive to that kindness because it would be wrong not to allow it.

As her own mind began to fog with sleep, she considered this night a success. A boon, now she could put the curiosity behind her. She could allow the Faunus to leave without being glued to these questionable thoughts. Could continue her life with the knowledge of having once taken this woman. To have learned that Faunus were not so animalistic. They were not trite creatures that walked these lands. They were humanity, merely a different form of it. Not unlike those hailing from exotic lands.

Beautiful souls given form, merely in a different vessel.


	18. Chapter 18

** Dilectio  
Chapter 18 **

Blake found herself waking from a sound sleep, one she hadn’t had in a long time. She was usually a very light sleeper, always prepared to wake battle ready at the next threat. That she felt no desire to move was a new thing. The dawn was here to brighten the room dimly with the rising sun. There was a mild soreness between her legs, a small fatigue cloaking her as she yawned.

It was then she recalled what exactly went on last night. Why she was a little sore, and just who caused it. She blushed deeply, groaning down into her pillow. Of all the stupid things to do, this one had topped the list. Yang would completely throttle her if she found out. Sleeping with an enemy, how brainless could she be?

“I take it you are not a morning person.”

That voice proved it. It wasn’t some figment of her imagination. In no way a dream. Blake sat up violently, eyes casting about the room. A warm fire already blazing, and Weiss Schnee sitting at an immaculate dressing table. Creatures of Grimm carved into it. Every drawer a different creature, brass fittings adding splashes of coloring upon the dark wood.

“Are you always so restless?” Weiss asked, looking deep at the mirror as she pulled a brush through her long white hair. Blue eyes finding the Faunus sitting in the bed, amber gazing back at her.

Blake saw herself in the mirror, horrified by the fact that Weiss could see everything. Her bare breasts were fully on display and everything else, too. “Well what else should I do when I wake up in strange places?!” She said, bunching them to her chest as she looked for her clothes.

“I see, carry on then.” Weiss said, unmoved by Blake’s panic.

“Where are my clothes?” Blake asked, they didn’t seem to be around. She didn’t see them anywhere.

“The servants took them to be washed.” Weiss replied. “It is their job to tidy such a mess.”

Blake grit her teeth, deflating. “They saw, didn’t they?”

“It is none of their concern.” Weiss replied. “Do not worry yourself over that. You were beneath the sheets, they didn’t place eyes upon you in any way that would be indecent.”

“But they still saw me sleeping in your bed.”

“It matters very little.” Weiss replied. “A ceremonial robe and under wrappings have been placed in the wardrobe for your use. Your combat armor is to be cleaned, you will receive them after they have been cared for.”

Blake made a beeline to it, taking the blankets with her. Weiss contained her amusement, but it was a rather odd sight. So few felt the need to contain their image after being deflowered, but she suspected Blake was a modest person. The woman that had warmed her bed flung open the twin doors, finding the clothes folded neatly to be used.

“I still can’t believe you made me fight that Ursa.” Blake said, grabbing the cloth wrappings to tie them to her form. She was far quicker about it than usual, a burning blush sending her cheeks alight. She had to let go of the sheets and put herself on display in order to do it.

“You survived, and you learned something. It suited my needs.”

Blake merely scoffed at this, watching as Weiss continued to work her hair free of tangles. “You do that yourself?”

“It is my usual habit.” Weiss murmured. “Do you find that odd?”

“Glynda always seems to be fussing with my hair or complaining about my clothes. She really seems to hate my combat attire.” Blake told her, synching the knot around her waist before reaching for the cloth that was to support her breasts. “I just assumed you had someone to do yours as well.”

“Before I became the paramount ruler, I was attended often for hygienic routines. They’d bathe me, dress me, and prepare me to be seen. It is just habit within the fortress that noble women of high station are expected to be attended and assisted in that way. This of course includes honored guests where it might be desired.” Weiss told her, watching as Blake finished getting dressed. “Man are attended too, although I tend to find the habit among them a rarity.”

“Why might that be?” Blake asked her. “They all seem very immaculately kept.”

“Depending on the dress, help is usually required for formal settings.” Weiss murmured, she often wondered about that herself. “If I had to fathom why men avoid it that would come down to pride. They have an odd way about them, less prone to showcase themselves unless they are primed. Perhaps they find themselves unsightly when their manhood isn’t at capacity. Though, that is merely my speculation. I have never understood why they strut around bare chested, yet have this indiscernible urge to cup themselves if a huntress happens to pass them in the armory.”

“You couldn’t prove it by me. All the men I know don’t mind being naked. It doesn’t rightly matter what is or isn’t flapping around. Though, all of those naked men were bandits or Faunus. That may have something to do with it. Aren’t your huntresses just as displeased if a man were to bypass them?”

“That is different. We’re raised to project modestly. My huntresses, even the ones of noble birth, aren’t tittering little girls. They’re blooded, tainted by the tides of war. Nudity becomes nothing compared to those horrors. In the armory or the training grounds everyone is prone to be redressed. It is not a habit to peep at length. I’d place my bets that my huntresses are very likely to castrate any male foolish enough to be belligerently offensive.”

“Not a price I’d pay if I were them.” Blake said, now fully dressed. Walking over and holding out her. “May I?”

Weiss passed Blake the brush, understanding her intentions. She allowed Blake to do this for her, didn’t question its nature. She had more pressing matters on her mind. “I have meetings to attend. Ruby must finish her studies. I’d suggest you bathe and take a proper meal, it will soothe the soreness caused from last night. You are free to return to your friends for the time being.”

“I thought you needed me to stay around…”

“When I have need of you, I shall send someone to collect you. I expect you won’t give Penny any more trouble?”

“No, I won’t.” Blake said softly. “So long as you promise not to become infuriated if I have a good reason to refuse.”

“So long as you breathe and reside with my lands, there is never good reason to refuse.” Weiss said dryly. “Although, should you merely be delayed with good reason, I may abide that.”

Blake just rolled her eyes as she set down the brush. “At this point that’s basically the same thing. Sometimes I think you’re just prickly for the sake of it.”

“Believe what you will.” Weiss said, standing up and smoothing out her dress. Giving herself one last careful examination in the mirror. “Well, my appearance will have to do. I really must be going, and you too it seems. Glynda has a package prepared for you. Winter is wandering the territory nearby. If you happen to run into her, be sure that she gets it. If not, Raven will do just fine, but whatever you do be sure not to break it. The vial in the package is more relic water for that friend of yours. It seems she will require a second dose.”

* * *

Glynda’s own office was small, cramped shelves and a small desk offering little to work with. She rarely used it, and on the occasions she did it was never for very long. Her place in the fortress demanded she didn’t stay idle. She had no need to house complex documents or catalogue endless details. That was the requirements of the highest lords, generals, and other officials. Her shelves were filled with fortress protocol, staff lists, and the procedures that needed to be taken to complete mundane tasks. From the fortress butlers to the laundry maids, Glynda saw to everyday mundanity that kept the fortress from imploding.

It was an impeccable standard to keep, particularly when events of utmost circumstance tossed everything into complete and total chaos. She had been in the middle of penning a formal complaint to the kitchen staff when her day had been upended. First it had been Ruby running in the halls again, managing to trip over her own feet and send a flowerpot flying. Then it was the laundry maids. They’d came barging in to panic about a lack of cleaning solution for the white sheets. The nobles wouldn’t stand for stains, and they feared stern punishment. Clearly there had been a mix-up in the ordering. She had only just soothed their terror when several noble ladies started fussing about lacking suitable attire for the coming feast. They’d send the seamstresses into a tizzy at this rate.

As was quite common when her day failed to go according to plan, James came knocking next. His mood was so foul she thought one of the children may have been caught playing in the armory again. Hardly a place for children, and a fine way to set his temper aflame. Instead he was so irate he said nothing at all as he watched her work. He muttered on about indecency under his breath.

Finally she set down her logbooks and sighed at length. “Alright, out with it! What Grimm crawled up your butt this time?”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you, but it seems all of the fathers in the fortress have lost their minds. They keep presenting their sons to me, thinking that I’d happily show them to our lady.”

“Strange, what brought that lunacy on?”

“You’ve instructed the ladies to wear the finest gowns. Fathers are attentive enough to wonder at the reason. I believe they’ve noticed this will be no simple gathering. I think they’ve gathered that our lady is in search. It’s just they they’ve miscalculated.” He said shaking his head tiredly. “More importantly, how are your preparations coming along?”

“Terribly. Yours?”

“The same.” James grumbled. “I’ll require the tailors see to the uniforms. I want my men dressed properly for the event.”

“Do I look like your personal scribe?” Glynda asked, while flipping through the pages of names and positions from the outdoor staff.

“He’s currently occupied.”

“That is my problem how, exactly?” She didn’t wait for his response, her own annoyance tangible. “You have a mouth, call for the tailors yourself. I’m far too busy trying to keep hundreds of servants and low ranking nobles from panicking. I absolutely refuse to babysit your military as well.”

“I would order it myself, but I am drowning under other matters.” James said tightly. “I came to you because you’d know exactly who to command to see it done.”

Glynda sent him a dry look. “It isn’t as if I have every single one of these registers memorized.” She replied, handing him a tome from beneath a tall stack. “There you are, the artisan registry. He should be in there someplace.”

James picked up the book, weighing it in his hand and sighed. “And just what do you suppose I do with this?”

“Typical... give a man of your nature a book, and he flexes with it…” Glynda groused as she took another note hastily on a piece of paper. “The process is simple. You open the book and find the appointed lead tailor. Then you write a letter detailing the arrangements. Address it with his wing and room number, give it to the messengers. They will deliver the letter. The lead tailor will eventually read it and response in kind. How difficult is this!?”

“You’d be amazed…” James said as he placed the book down to be forgotten. He leaned back in the chair, sighing at length as he pulled out a thick stack of letters from his jacket pocket. “This is only a small offering of the letters flooding my desk. With all of the interruptions I haven’t been able to reply to a single one. I came here to hide before any more of my men snicker at me.”

“I take it more delegates sent word?”

“Countless of them.”

“I can provide eight rooms in the east wing, ten in the west.”

“That’s only eighteen rooms!”

“Well it seems you’ll just have to replace some of the visiting generals to an allotment within the camps.” Glynda said. “Arrangements for the campsites have been completed, haven’t they?”

“Not quite yet.” James said softly, mired in his thought. “I was to meet with our lady today to discuss it. We have a greater showing of interest than usual. So much for keeping the matter quiet.”

“Well, that’s hardly a surprise.” Glynda said, leaving her books alone for a moment as she sat down at her desk and clearing it up. “I was meaning to discuss that with you in fact.”

“The wedding announcement, what for?”

“Has our lady brought the matter up?” Glynda asked him, reaching for a pitcher of water and two glasses.

“Not to me, no.” James said, his expression little more than placid and unconcerned. “Besides the small meeting that was held, she hasn’t addressed it further. If she’s chosen someone, she hasn’t told me. I don’t expect she will.”

“I see, well an interesting tidbit reached by ear. Something I ordered silenced, but I feel you should know.” At this Glynda took pause, wondering how best to say it. There was no better way than to simply air it out into the open. “A laundry maid crossed my path today looking completely flabbergasted, and when I asked what made her look as white as the sheets she informed me of an incident being spoken of in the halls. I have yet to confirm it, but seems factual.”

“Oh lovely.” James muttered. “What noble tittering happened now?”

“This is by no means your average gossip. It seems that our lady has taken the Faunus to bed.”

“I beg your pardon…”

“You heard me James… apparently one of the other laundry maids took personal sight of it. It spread like a fire from there.”

“SHE DID WHAT!?” 

Glynda stood just enough to reach over, clocking him upside the head. “Keep your voice down, I’m trying to silence the matter. Shouting will make more speculation, not less.”

“How could you possibly know something like that?” James bit out. “I doubt such a thing would ever easily be confirmed.”

“Plenty of staff are speaking of it behind closed doors. Some of the most tightly lipped have unpinned their tongues on this one. Frankly I’m shocked the news hasn’t reached you yet. Perhaps my orders to hush the matter had an effect.”

“It’s certain to be all over the training grounds by noon.” James muttered darkly. “What a fine mess this is. It must be an unfounded claim.”

“Conjecture or not, that is what’s being said.” Glynda told him. “If you intend to meet with our lady today I’d suggest you tread lightly. I wouldn’t dare bring up the matter. If does happen to be factual, you’ll only earn her ire.”

* * *

Blake returned to the camp, by the time she had arrived Winter had already gotten there. Together they gave Ilia the water and waited. The girl wasn’t looking good but there was something else going on too. Blake could sense that something was wrong between Winter and Yang. The two of them seemed off somehow, and the unsettling air made her wonder at just what happened while she was away. It wasn’t unusual for Winter to be distant, or Yang to be in some sort of bad mood, but they were always unified. Working together to overcome obstacles and emotional turmoil.

Winter said nothing as she exited the tent. No soft words detailing where she was going, no any statements of encouragement. Yang didn’t even watch her leave, lilac eyes focused on Ilia’s welfare. Blake knew she stood a better chance at asking Yang about the matter, hoping the blonde would confide in her when Ilia found an unrestful sleep.

“Did something happen?” Blake asked as they sat side by side in the tent. Yang watching over Ilia, and Blake watching over Yang.

“Nothing changed.” Yang said as she reached for the cloth to dip it back into the cool water. “She hasn’t really been lucid in a while.”

“I meant about you and Winter.” Blake said softly.

“No.”

“Are you sure about that?”

Yang squeezed out the cloth and replaced it atop Ilia’s head. Then she sighed as she hung her head low, fluffing at her long blonde hair. “It wasn’t anything bad, if anything nothing’s changed at all there either. Everything’s exactly the same. So are we going to talk about the real elephant in the room, or no?”

It was hard not to take notice of anger mixing with jealousy. The longstanding grudge Yang kept showed no signs of ebbing away. Blake couldn’t blame her. “There isn’t much to say really. Ruby just wanted me to come and visit, and Weiss got it into her head that it was somehow a good idea.” She said, finding it difficult not to think about Weiss and her side of the situation. “Ruby was in a good mood most of the time I was there.”

“Perfect…”

“I’m sorry you couldn’t have been there too.” Blake murmured, feeling as though she was apologizing a lot recently. It wasn't even her fault this time. She hadn't asked to go to the fortress. She was taken there because Weiss had dangled the one chance Ilia had at a cure, and Blake took it. "But, if it makes you feel any comfort you should know that Ruby seems to be okay. She's not being harmed or anything like that. Weiss seems to care about her."

“Can’t say I’m not pissed about that. Ruby's my little sister, but you get to go to the fortress instead? Talk about a slap in the face.” Yang groused.

“I know, and I wish it didn't need to be like this. Even though I hadn't wanted to go at first, I'm glad I did. Weiss did say something though, and it got me thinking.” Blake said carefully. “Well, she said a lot of things, actually. She really does want to protect Ruby, and it's important to remember that. It's not doing this to hurt you. She said that if you followed directions, she’d allow you to see Ruby.”

“There’s no way I’m kissing her ass.”

“Yang-”

“No! That’s not happening. I don’t owe her anything…” Yang grumbled, gritting her teeth as she felt a long burning hatred scorching her. “It’s her fault Summer’s dead.”

“I don’t think so...” Blake said softly. “I’m starting to get the impression that she feels guilty, but I don’t think she’s to blame.”

“She might as well be.” Yang said, unwilling to see it any other way. “Salem might have been the one to kill her, but Weiss is the one that let it happen.”

“Is it really so hard to believe everyone made the best out of a bad situation?”

“I don’t know what lie she fed you, but it sounds like me you’re starting to believe her over me.”

“No, I don’t.” Blake shot back in a soft breath. “It’s not like that, and I don’t agree with most of the things she says. It’s just that she told me a few things that made a lot of sense. I'm not saying she's right, I'm just saying I see why she's so stubborn about it."

"Then you should get why I am too." Yang told her.

"Yang you’re the only one that’s truly upset about where Ruby’s staying. Weiss pointed that out, and I think that’s true." Blake said, trying to bridge this impossible gap. For Yang's sake, she needed to try. "I think you two would see eye-to-eye on things if you just gave her a chance. I get the feeling she’s just trying to protect Ruby the best way she knows how. It might not be the right way, but sometimes there is no right way to do things.”

“She could have done a better job than this.”

“Actually, I’m starting to wonder about that. I don’t know if she could have. It’s easy to get mad at Weiss, and I don’t think I can ever really forgive her for her mistakes. I don't think she wants the forgiveness. She beats herself up with it, I think. Maybe that's a good thing in a way, because it keeps her honest. One thing I did learn, is that it’s easy to place all of the blame on her for sins she didn’t even commit. I did it too, and now I know there's a real beating heart underneath it all. The way she sees it, she does the best she can with the hand she’s dealt."

"I call bullshit on that."

"Well, maybe you shouldn't. I'm not saying it absolves her actions. It doesn't, not by a long shot." Blake sighed then. "All I'm saying is that we’re going to have to meet her halfway if we want things to get better. She is the ruler of these lands, and she's not going to take you seriously if you don't act like she is.”

“As far as I’m concerned, she’s keeping Ruby away from where she belongs. I don’t care what twisted excuses she comes up with.” Yang grit out harshly. “If all you’re going to do is defend her, we’re done talking about this.”

Blake nodded, deciding she’d give Yang a little space as she exited the tent and sat outside of it. Raven had Sun hard at work over a gigantic stewpot, payment for being allowed to stay in the cam and earn their keep. She might not have been the best cook on the planet, but with plenty of vegetables to prepare she saw the one place she could be of help.

* * *

At first, Weiss had stood firm in her decision to send Blake back to the bandit camp. A small handful of days dragged on with little to recommend of them. Life at the fortress returned to normalcy. Meetings and work occupying the bulk of her day, Ruby’s needs falling into the mix when the girl got herself into the usual sorts of trouble.

“I told you Ruby, her place is not with us.” Weiss said, trying to explain for the umpteenth time why exactly the Faunus had left the fortress without disrupting the girl. Ruby had wanted the Faunus to take her to the river again. However, Ruby could not cling to her idyllic fantasies. The Faunus would return when Weiss decided to call upon her. She wouldn’t come back a moment sooner.

“But she’s so nice to me.”

“She will continue to be nice once she returns.”

“You haven’t said when that will be.”

“I have not yet decided.”

“Will you take me to go fishing?”

“Certainly not, I have things I must complete. You shall obey and do as you are told.”

Weiss didn’t care to see the pout that earned her, didn’t linger long enough hear more of it as she closed the door to Ruby’s room and locking it so that she wouldn’t be followed. Glynda would arrive to take the girl to dinner in short order, and until then Ruby had plenty of toys to play with. Loneliness would not linger, because Penny had been ordered to take Ruby to the training area after she’d had a proper dinner. Typically such plans would have Ruby eager to do as she was told, but having Blake to give her so much attention had spoiled her.

She thought on this as she made her way out of the Schnee wing of the fortress. An inexplicable restlessness once again overcoming her. This time from inward as her mind puzzled out her plans.

The wings flanking hers belonged to prominent families. Nobles from long held bloodlines, and like her own personal space it was always calm and quiet. A pin could drop in these halls, and while she rarely graced the upper most common areas her bypassing still earned respect. Relaxed conversations silencing immediately for a moment to offer her their regards. She paid little mind to it. Instead she took the time to wander the fortress at length.

She stopped in on Glynda’s empty office, took sight of the logs that had been written down for later use. Countless pages of planning for the upcoming event making its importance all the more difficult to refute. Then she checked in on the coffers, countless bookkeepers and tax collectors running amok with the newest onset of payment was counted from the villages. She had to approve key areas of spending before seeking out a few more parts of the fortress than ran countless offices. Her last stop was the office James kept, planning for war in full swing should such a thing be needed in short order.

With her usual demands met and little more to concern herself with, she went back to her room. It seemed empty somehow. Lacking in something she couldn’t entirely put her finger on. Her mind turned to Blake, as it seemed to do in the small hours when havoc wasn’t at hand. She had wrongly assumed that once Blake left the confines of the fortress, little would change. Out of sight, out of mind. That had not proven to be the case.

It was hard not to think of her as Weiss sat down on her bed. Difficult to push aside the night she so clearly recalled. She found it odd to return to such thoughts. Of Blake particularly. Her soft form, the yielding sort. The strength beyond it. Blake… with every ounce of headstrong determination and compulsion to be infuriating. It had been meant to be a single encounter, casual and left as it was. For all of the times Weiss had taken a woman to her bed, the memory didn’t linger.

Blake’s did.

Weiss only needed to look at the bed and recall the moment of Blake’s release vividly. It was difficult not to think on it, to close her eyes and recall it so clearly. She had been fascinated by the woman prior to that night, but now it could almost be called a fixation.

* * *

After the meal and several hours cleaning up the mess the bandits left for them, Blake went to the nearby river to wash up. With the sun setting into the trees and the darkness of nightfall coming over the landscape her thoughts turned inward. Winter’s tent inhabited by bedrolls that wouldn’t normally be there. Sun was already asleep on his. With as tired as she was, her own called out to her and she collapsed into it, she lay there, not counting the time as it passed by. Winter finally came in when the sounds of crickets chirped and the bandits drank by the bonfire.

“You’re still up?” Winter asked with a lantern in hand, stepping over Blake and then over Sun before reaching her changing screen. A single dresser beyond it containing all of her clothes.

“Yeah, just a bit.” Blake said, hearing the rustling of fabric. The light illuminating Winter’s silhouette. “I have a lot to think about.”

“I’ll say you do.” Winter said then. “I didn’t think you’d be back so soon, or with more relic water. You didn’t steal it, did you?”

“I told you before, Weiss gave it to me.” Blake said, though in truth she wasn’t sure why. “I didn’t need to steal it. Winter... about that...”

“Hmm?”

“What do you think Weiss does in her free time?”

“Who knows?” Winter replied coming out dressed in a simple cloth nightgown and hanging the lantern over a hook before dimming it considerably. Pouring some clean water into a bowl, she washed her face for the night before taking hold of a toothbrush to clean her teeth. “If I had to guess she probably goes out and wanders around the territory. The fortress can be oppressive on a good day.”

“Do you think she likes it there?”

With the toothbrush in her mouth Winter shrugged absently. She wouldn’t even begin to hazard a guess. It probably wasn't even a matter of like or dislike at all. Her sister was formidable because she didn't make the habit to objectify life in that way. Things she liked, she favored, things she didn't infuriated her.

“What about Ruby?”

Drinking from a clean cup and rinsing her mouth into the same bowl, Winter said nothing at first as she wiped her face off with a clean towel. “What about Ruby?” Winter asked then, dumping out the water behind the back flap of the tent were grass grew. The bowl rested outside on a small table. Whoever was in charge of bowl detail would clean it and return it by sunrise.

“I know you don’t approve of the way Weiss handles things. Now that I’ve seen the way Ruby lives I’ve got to admit, I’m a bit conflicted.” Blake rolled over, facing Winter, looking up to her as she watched the woman get into bed. “I always had it in my head that she was being abused or something, but now I know she isn't. Actually, she seems happy there more or less.”

“In a lot of ways, Weiss takes after our father.” Winter said distantly. “I don’t like seeing those qualities in her, but it’s hard not to. She sees the world in a way that lacks nuance. Every time I think she’s starting to change her stripes, she goes and does something to prove she hasn’t. Ruby remains a point of contention, but what I think about that doesn’t matter. I’m not the ruler, and according to Weiss I should have been.”

“If you had been, you could have chosen to do thing differently.”

“You’re right, but I don’t know if I would have. Sometimes I wonder about that. If I hadn’t become a bandit, I would have never met Yang. If I was of the mind to even want to be ruler, it calls into question the sort of person I am now. That’s why no matter how I might feel, in the grand scheme it really doesn’t matter. The laws of these lands are on her shoulders. What she does is her choice, and what I do is mine.”

“Then if you really think it doesn’t matter, why fight with her about it so much?”

“I can do what I want. Weiss thinks she can’t. It all comes down to that. Everything, even Ruby. She puts on these airs, but I know the real person behind that mask. I think if she ruled the way she wanted, instead of the way she believes it has to be done, she’d be a happier person. I think a lot of people would be happier that way. It just so happens that Yang would be one of them. We argue because Weiss doesn't think seeing things my way would be of any help to her. Honestly, she might be right about that..."

“Why do you think she holds back from living the life she wants to live?”

“Now that’s something I’ve never understood.” Winter told her, reaching up to turn out the light. “Just try not to think about it, Blake. Trust me, that’s a line of thinking you don’t want to go down.”

It was too late though. Blake was already thinking about it. She was wondering about a lot of things.

Was Weiss thinking about her too? Probably not. Was it a mistake to do what they did? Maybe so, but it didn’t quite feel that way.


	19. Chapter 19

** Dilectio  
Chapter 19 **

The relic called out. Weiss could feel it demanding her attention. At first the call was quiet, hardly noticeable, but as it grew louder it became impossible to ignore. She cut a meeting with her advisors short. Her mouth twisted in a sneer, terrifying no few staff and lesser noble.They quickly got out of her way. As she stormed her way to the library, she couldn’t help but feel bitter about it. She had never once turned her hand upon anyone without a direct reason to do so. Her own anger was rarely the cause. Yet so many feared her like they once feared her father.

It wasn’t entirely their fault. Being born a Schnee came with the implied threat of action of itself. The bloodline had held power for so long, and so few in the line were known for mercy. Weiss certainly wasn’t, and it was easy to force most into compliance with a mere gaze. Just as those of lesser status were driven to conform to her whim, she was driven to demand that conformity. Raised into station, almost as if it was biological certainty that her demands were met by those beneath her. The Schnee line was paramount to the peoples, and with good reason to be.

Still, Weiss felt fury whenever those around her skittered in the halls. If only she had been more like her mother. It might have done her a fair bit of good to have her mother’s natural charisma and desire for diplomacy. While her father had ruled with an iron fist, Willow had ruled with an easy temperance. She had been willing to deviate from compliance, to hold a fair sense of humor above her stern demeanor. The woman was one of the few ever in the fortress to tell her husband where to shove his pompous attitude. Willow Schnee had never once tolerated disloyalty or dissension, but she had never be prone to beating the daylights of those who crossed her, either.

Weiss shook her head, it was foolish. She could never be like that woman. The one to influence her where it mattered most had been her father. While she would never be as quick to anger as he was, not prone to bellow at the top of her lungs, or unpredictably assault someone in the wake of her ire, she was not mild mannered either. If only she had grown up with the woman’s guidance properly. If only she hadn’t lost her mother far too young. Weiss had always envied her older sister in that way. Having the time to know their mother at length as a ruler, growing to adulthood under her guidance.

Thinking of this, and the call of the relic, she made her way into the library and down to the object commanding her. It glowed a sickly, unearthly red.

“What is this? A Recoil?” She grit her teeth as it flared her aura. Its command was something never to be questioned, and refusal impossible. She grasped that godforsaken staff from its pedestal, feeling her aura being dragged into it.

No…

It wasn’t a recoil.

She could hear the command clearly.

“You want the girl?” She said softly. “You shall have her.”

* * *

Ilia was acting strangely, at first everyone had thought she was getting better. That the fact she sat up and managed to take a meal had been a good thing. It didn’t last long before they realized she wasn’t right at all. The girl began wandering about the camp as her aura burst and began to flair around her. After being sapped away from so long, it had come flooding back. It only lasted a short time before it would disappear again. She ignored those around her, falling to her knees several times only to be placed back in bed.

Still, when her aura was active she got up again and wandered, seemingly aimless. It didn’t matter how many times they put her back in bed, she continued to get out of it. No one knew the cause of it, but the entire camp was on edge, no one trusting the strange actions. Ilia for her part wasn’t lucid enough to care. As though controlled by an unseen force.

“What’s going on?” Yang asked, gritting her teeth as she punched a tree into submission. What had once been hope, turned to grief anew.

“According to Raven, Ilia has all the medics stumped on this one. I don’t know why she’s doing this.” Winter said softly. “However, I think we can take it as a sign that the water has done something.”

“Yeah, but we don’t even know if that’s a good thing. You gave her that water, Winter!” Yang shouted at her, eyes flaring red. “How could you not know?!”

“I don’t have a clue as to what’s going on, but we can find out.” Winter said, having never seen such a reaction in her life. The relic water had never caused such a thing before. “It was meant to heal her, not drive her insane.”

“She still had no idea who I am or where she even is half the time.” Yang said shaking her head. “That’s not like her. For all we know, the water is trying to kill her.”

By absolute perfect timing, Weiss flew over them, the relic at her back changing her eyes with every command of her aura. Blue turning red only to turn blue again with each blink. She landed deftly, feet whisper soft upon the ground despite the power raging through her. The bandits began falling over themselves as they called for Raven.

“I doubt that’s what it’s doing.” Weiss said, uncaring that she nearly landed on one of Raven’s terrified subordinates. That he screamed and ran was of no concern. “It is not insanity, this demand. It is not inherently murderous either.”

She didn’t think it wise to state that it could become that way. She felt it. The demand so strong it set her completely off balance. For once in her life, Weiss found herself truly understanding the power that a maiden needed to hold. They’d need it to command the relic. To force it to submit entirely to their willpower alone, not a task idly done. Certainly not by her own whims, and here she was, foolish enough to try.

“Weiss…” Winter hissed out in horror. “What happened to you?”

“Nothing has happened to me as of yet.” Weiss replied to her. “What has happened comes from here. The relic has made a demand, it shall be met.”

“It was you…” Yang raged, cracking her knuckles before charging in. “You’re the one that did this to her, you heartless bitch.”

“Yang no!” Winter shouted, forming a glyph in midair to halt Yang’s attack. “Don’t get close to it.”

“Let me go.” Yang spat. “I’ll tear her limb from limb.”

“Anyone wanna tell me what the flying fuc-” Raven’s words died in her throat as she came running.

“Halt! Do not come closer!” Weiss ordered. “The relic will recoil upon any who dare to defy it.”

“Yeah, no shit.” Raven spat eyes wide as she took sight of the relic adorning the ruler’s back. This was not supposed to happen. “Winter, don’t let that idiot break that glyph.”

“You say that like I have a choice.” Winter bit back snidely. It was all she could do to keep Yang contained. “Her semblance is going to shatter it.”

Raven cursed under her breath, watching as Weiss rolled her eyes and began to wander in the direction of the tent. Yang flailed and Winter fell to her knees as she forced the glyph it keep its powerful hold. She had no time for this.

The leader of the bandits grabbed Yang’s hair and yanked her back in the glyph. “Stop thrashing!”

“Fuckin’ let me go!”

“Don’t be an idiot, Yang. You’ll get killed.”

“I don’t care!”

“You leave me no choice then…” Raven said, as she cracked her own fists. “Naptime squirt.” She said, slamming her daughter with so much force she passed out, hanging limply in the black snowflake that contained her. She winced as her own aura flared in response. “Little shit’s built like a truck. Where’d Weiss go?”

“She’s in the tent.” Winter said, lowering Yang gently onto the ground.

“Good, let her get what she came here for.”

“Surely you must be joking!”

“Do I look like I’m joking?” Raven asked dangerously. “You want to dance the cha-cha with that thing, it’s your funeral. Relics don’t take shit from lowly humans. Take Yang to my tent, and if she wakes up, shackle her to the damn bed. This is no time for her to start a pissing match she can’t win.”

Winter didn’t move, assured that Yang was alright, she was faced with an option. Do as Raven said, or make sure no harm came to her sister. From the distance she could see a new confrontation beginning to unfold. The choice was obvious, and she sped off in the direction of the tent.

* * *

Weiss had come at the behest of the relic, had been compelled to come, and now her aura told her everything she needed to know. This twisted feeling lurking in the girl. It made her blood want to curdle, her belly to rumble and spill bile. Her every sense was heightened at the relic’s power. She went to the tent containing the child, stood placidly at the doorway, taking sight of the three Faunus within.

“Oh, so that’s why Yang’s screaming her head off…” Sun said, pointing over to the woman who gazed in.

Blake hadn’t been paying attention to the commotion outside. Yang got into fights all the time, it was nothing new. She was too focused on keeping an eye on Ilia, Blake hadn’t been brought to wonder about the racket. Now with her attention to the door, relief flooded her. “Weiss? Oh thank god…” Blake said coming over to greet her. “Ilia’s taken a turn for the worst.”

The relic seeming to notice the warm welcome. To be receptive to it. Weiss took that as a sign.

“So I have noticed.” Weiss said softy. Perhaps it was her own pleasure that spoke to the relic. That Blake seemed to understand compliance in this. Weiss would never be sure, but the relic seemed to calm. Its power turning far less foul as her visage remained tranquil. She looked to the girl impassively, and then cast her gaze to Blake. The Faunus looking hopeful. Yes, it proved that her arrival was just what was needed. “It seems the relic’s water is not enough to subdue this.”

Sun just stood there, eyeing the two with no small amount of confusion. Blake ran to Weiss like a woman ran to her lover. A strange thing for the Faunus male to witness, along with the subtle of pheromone to imply something had taken place between the two of them. He flicked his tail, edgily taking stock of a world turned upside down. “Does she need more water?” Sun asked, wondering if that was why Weiss showed up, and with the relic on her back to boot. He liked to think of the best in people, wanted to believe she was here to be of help.

Weiss paid no mind to him. Had no desire to pay the man any of her attention. Instead she consider the relic’s demands. It seemed to want the child, seemed to cool its ire with the girl under its commanding influence. “The girl will not survive the night unless something is done…” Weiss said softly, more to herself than to those surrounding her.

“It’s gotten really bad.” Blake nodded. “Can you help her? She’s… losing it…”

Weiss wondered at her newfound senses. The draw of aura from around her. The male filled with anxiety, the woman filled with relief, and child’s hardly there at all. Repressed, and nearly failing to exist. Her own aura seeming to respond to these subtle clues. Her eyes flashed red in a blink once more as she placed a hand atop Ilia’s head. It felt as though Grimm themselves were swimming within her soul. With no outward indication of that conclusion she pulled her hand away.

“I have not come to cure this illness.” Weiss said then, because there was only one thing to be done about this. The command the relic made. It was not to be argued. “I must take the child.”

“Take her?” Blake asked quietly. “Can something be done about this at the fortress?”

Weiss nodded wordlessly. That was her assumption, but it was a curious thing at best. “If she is to live, she shall come.” She didn’t know why she felt that pulse within herself. The relic’s demand was vague. It wanted the child, commanded that she be taken in by its light. Weiss could only conclude it was the water that had bound them so. “If she remains here untreated, she will die.”

“I’ll go with you.” Blake said.

“No.” Weiss said quietly. “You shall stay.”

“What?” Blake asked, clear hurt upon her features. “But why?”

“That is not your concern.” Weiss murmured, lifting the child into her arms. In truth, there was no time to appease Blake’s whims. She couldn’t explain why she felt that way, or the way the blood in her body felt as though it was twisting inside of her the moment she picked up the girl. “You will come to me when I call for you, but only then. You shall stay until you are summoned, and that is how it shall be.”

* * *

That was how Winter arrived at this standoff. Blake refusing to let Weiss leave with the girl, and Weiss standing there looking as though she was about to behead the first person to test her temper too far.

“Weiss no, you can’t do this…” Blake said, stepping in front of her. “Not this way… it’s not right.”

That was unwise. The worst thing to do. This misstep, one so far out of line it made so little sense to Weiss. The relic felt her aura's shift. It's own calm coming to an end again.

“You dare to defy me now?” Weiss asked, feeling a vile shift within herself, one that was not entirely of her own soul. She was annoyed, yes, but this feeling was sinister. She needed to remove herself quickly, least she lose control of this monstrous weapon. The bloodlust within it was growing, it would have what it wanted and cast aside anyone that got in the way.

“Let her go, Blake.” Winter said, knowing that blue eyed gaze was not completely that of her sister.

“I’m not doing that.” Blake muttered standing firm. “Not until she agrees to take me with her.”

“You have to do as she says.”

“She’s going to take ilia.”

“I know.” Winter nodded. “I know that all too well.” She said, though her eyes didn’t leave her younger sibling. Gauging her, she pulled Blake back from the entry. “I know what she’d doing, and I know you can’t understand it, but you can’t get in the way of this. She’s not in complete control. The relic has sway on her, don’t tempt it.”

Weiss watched on, standing momentarily to regard her elder sibling. “You trust me…”

“Just go, before someone gets killed.” Winter replied hotly, furious. Of all the moronic things for Weiss to do, this was the worst. What compelled her to hold the relic in the first place? Why? Winter didn't think it wise to ask, but the questions still burned despite her. The following insult came far too easily. "Idiot..."

Weiss left as quickly as she came, and Winter found herself all the more angry for it as Blake fell down onto her knees, a soundless sob falling from her lips. Eyes hidden behind her palms.

* * *

All in all, Weiss was less than pleased with herself as she watched the child soak in the pool of water. Taking her had upset Blake, caused her to weep. That wasn’t of particular satisfaction. The relic at her back had made her keenly aware of the spark of distrust that had ignited between them. She would see to that matter later, and to great detail. For now she could do no more than ponder the relic in front of her. Eying it as the relic glowed a placid blue above the child, seemingly happy to have her.

It was an unfathomably odd situation to say the least, and Weiss had found herself at odds as she looked over to the woman that sat beside her. The maiden was not to be here, summoned to be in the room at all took grave precautions. She needed to be handcuffed and chained for the good of the people. The magic kept within those chains refusing her powers to be set free. The woman was not bothered by her captivity. She understood the reasons.

The maiden was rather at peace with it, but Weiss knew she had never truly wanted her powers. Never sought them out deliberately. In her day-to-day life she lived quietly within the fortress, writing her notes and freely traversing the many libraries and grounds as she saw fit. So long as a maiden did her best to uphold the maiden bylaws, they lived a very comfortable life. This woman enjoyed the tranquility of hers.

Fria was older than many maidens ever got to be, her life well-lived. She was the true embodiment of everything a maiden ought to be. Still, her time was running short, because even those longest to live would eventually die. Fria was not a young woman anymore. There would come a time for change, sooner rather than later, Weiss was sure.

“So, have you discerned the meaning of this?” Weiss asked her, because only the maiden could truly commune with the relic, understanding everything it seemed to wish.

Fria merely laughed a little, adjusting the shackles and sitting atop the rock beside the lady of the lands. She had always had a fondness for all of the Schnee children, though she had kept the softest spot for Winter. Weiss was less prone to friendly overtures, and only rarely sought her guidance. “I wouldn’t say there’s meaning at all. Relics don’t often have a rhyme or reason to demand things unless souls call out to them.”

“Yet, it seemed to want her, quite pointedly in fact.”

“Perhaps the water had something to do with it.” Fria suggested softly. “Still, I doubt that alone was the cause. Though, she would have died long before without it."

"What was the cause then?"

"I can't say for sure, but I think it had more to do with your intentions than its own.”

“I have no intention of bringing in another child to the fortress, let alone a Faunus girl."

“But, it may be fair to say you had no intention to let the child die, either.”

Weiss scoffed at that, but Fria was not put off by the iciness.

Instead the chains rattled, echoing in the room as she reached out, offering a small comfort. She doubted it did any good, but Weiss allowed it. “The relics are possessive of those they deem worthy. With that possessiveness comes a desire to protect. I’d think it sought the girl because it could easily read those qualities in your own soul. A thought that it didn’t see the need to deny. Though with the corruption spread so deeply, the girl needed more care that its water could provide.”

“Will she survive?”

“I don’t know.” Fria said quietly. “What I do know is that the relic has decided to act. I doubt you’d be able to part her from its influence. Possessiveness can inspire protection, but it can also implore greed. If it cannot have her, it may not allow anyone to have her.”

“It would take her life?”

“Relics recoil for many reasons. I may be a maiden, but I am still only human. There is plenty that I don’t know. I can only tell you what history says. Instances like this are so few and far between that it may just be evidence based on assumption. Water has rarely been given to those outside the fortress, I think once the soul is too far away, the relic retaliates. Although, I have no proof.”

“That you say it might as well be proof enough.” Weiss told her. “Do you think she will become your successor?”

“No, that won’t happen. That I can promise.” Fria said quietly. “Her soul doesn’t align with the spirit of winter itself. I can feel that from here. I have not yet located my successor, but I am sure that she isn’t it. What will you do now?”

“I don’t know.” Weiss replied. “I won’t do a thing to cause the relic to recoil. That much is certain, beyond that I have considerations to make.” She stood slowly. “We should not linger here. I will escort you back to the library and remove these chains. I’m sure they’re not comfortable.”

“Nor is the rock.” Fria admitted as Weiss helped her to stand.

“Then let’s find you more someplace more comfortable and have Glynda prepare you some tea.”

* * *

Yang was beyond angry, and Blake couldn’t blame her. Her friend was ranting and raving in Raven’s tent. Winter and Raven doing their best to keep Yang’s ire contained, though that didn’t seem to be doing any good. Sun was more aloof than she was used to. Unwilling to talk and keeping his distance. She couldn’t help feeling that sting as he looked to her with betrayal. She’d earned that.

She should be ashamed of herself. Trusting Weiss so blindly.

She couldn’t stand to hear any more of Yang’s shouting, couldn’t stand Sun’s dour expression. She got up and wandered out of the camp, feeling so claustrophobic that she couldn’t breathe. She needed to get some air, and in the darkness of night she was able to walk without hindrance. Thanks to her night vision she had no issue wandering the woods. She listened to her own footsteps, anything to keep from thinking of what just happened.

Each step seemed like a hammer, another reason to feel guilty.

She didn’t know for how long she walked, but it was well outside of the confines of the camp. Well beyond bandit grounds by daybreak. Deep in the woods and so far off the path, she could do little more than sit by a slow flowing river as day began to break. She didn’t know how long she sat there for, couldn’t bring herself to care as she sat in her own pit of self-loathing. She could have smacked herself, but a wayward slap in the back of the head did it for her.

“Ow!”

“Little idiot.” Raven grumbled as she sat down beside the Faunus.

“Watch it…” Blake groused out. “What are you doing here anyway? Don’t you have something to pilfer or someone to harass?”

“Oh, so you’re going to piss and moan at me too?” Raven asked, not even the slightest bit put off by Blake’s expression. In fact she flat out laughed at the ire. “Try to do a nice thing and see where it gets me? Then you wonder why I don’t go messing around with things that aren’t my problem.”

“Smacking me in the back of the head, real nice.” Blake bit, her hand lifting to rub the spot.

“Someone ought to.” Raven told her with a shrug, using the hilt of her blade to whack down one of the native fruits. “You should have kept your aura activated anyway. You know better, unless you have a death wish."

"Shut up..."

"Not going to happen. It’s time we have a little chat, you and me. Tell me, how long have you been working with the Schnee?”

“Wait, you mean with Weiss?” Blake asked. “I’m not.”

“Bullshit.” Raven sighed, biting into her prize and chewing it. “I’m not stupid, you’ve got a nice big stick crammed real hard up Yang’s ass right about now. Weiss does a good enough job of that herself, she doesn’t need you adding to it."

"Trust me, I know."

At that Raven grumbled to herself. Another bite of the fruit in hand, she gnawed on her thoughts before they took shape. "Hey, it's bad enough Yang’s already pissed about Ruby, but now Ilia’s gone too.”

“That wasn’t my idea.”

“Doubted it was.” Raven said offhandedly. “But you go the fortress, you come back, and things don’t add up. Suddenly the Schnee, enemy to all Faunus, seems like your best buddy. Don’t think I haven’t heard you trying to get Yang to play nice with her. So, what’s the deal? Are you working for her or are you fucking her, because it can only be one of the two.”

“That’s not your business!”

“Fucking her, got it…” Raven said, gesturing to the blush the started making its way across Blake’s cheeks. "People don't go red in the face like that without getting down and dirty."

“You don’t have to be so crass about it…” Blake bit out, turning away. "Besides, there's a little thing called modesty."

“No need to beat around the bush.” Raven said, taking another bite of her snack. “You know, I never figured that’d be it. Couldn't have guessed it. I thought you might have had some back door deal going on. Can’t blame me for wanting in on it.”

“You really are that assbackwards, aren’t you?”

“If I am that’s really not your concern unless you want a piece.” Raven shrugged then, red eyes falling onto the woman in front of her thoughtfully. “Look, what you do and whoever you do it with, I really don’t care. We all have to get our kicks someplace. It’s just a little unexpected is all..." Raven shrugged trailing off. "Look, as surprised as I am that you put a notch in your belt with a Schnee, I’m twice as surprised that Schnee was Weiss.”

“Just what’s that supposed to mean?” Blake squawked indecorously.

“Woods are lonely, and Yang thinks of you like family. She wouldn’t be the first Branwen to have more than one lover at once. You're fairly close with Winter and Yang.” Raven said before sighing. “I didn’t really think about it one way or the other, just wouldn’t have been shocked if you did. As for Winter, she knows what I think. As for you, call me curious. How was it laying with the lady of the lands?”

“We are not talking about this…”

“It couldn’t have been that bad, but if you don’t wanna dish out, that’s on you.” Raven laughed as she stood, hauling Blake up with her. “It’s your business, you’re right on that. If you want a piece of advice though, watch your back.”

“Are you going to tell Yang?”

“Nope, but you probably should… now come on, let’s go back to camp.”

“I don’t think I should go back to the camp right now.”

“Don’t think then. Just walk before I cram my boot up your ass.”

“Raven, I mean it.” Blake said, pulling away from her. “I need some time to think. Leave me alone.”

“Suit yourself, but you’re not thinking straight.” Raven said, casting aside the wayward fruit. “If you’re not back by sunset, I’m sending Winter after you.”

* * *

Those slow trickle of days were long, and like a tempest they were full of tiny details that collected into a storm. Weiss found herself to be uneasy at the best of times, foul moods finding her in the worst. Those were more common as of late. So much so that Glynda had commented on her ire, sought to map out the reasons. Each attempted failed, because Weiss had not been keen to disclose them.

The matters at hand were a great many, yet so few clung to her mind quite like Blake. Moreover, to the Faunus youth she had taken in.

The girl showed small improvement, enough so that Weiss felt confidant making a minor journey out into the woods. She needed to be away from the fortress. From everything that bogged her down. Furthermore, she needed to search for the woman that held her ire so fiercely she couldn’t think clearly enough to make firm decisions. She had thought that they had come to an understanding, that their congress had placed before them a simple truth.

The spark of distrust between them seemed to have disregarded that truth. Of all the things Weiss found herself angry about, it was that.

It seemed Blake was off kilter too, not staying long at the bandit camp. She would return in the night, make her appearances, but be on her way by daylight. This pattern was reported to her by Winter personally. That was not something Weiss cared to ponder the extent of. Instead she much rather locate this infuriating woman that so held her ire. Made it so she could not sit in on important deliberations or consider the prospects of a spouse.

It needed to be handled, so help her.

She found Blake nearby the river that Winter claimed to be a usual spot. The Faunus too engrossed with the water to take heed of her surroundings.

“You defied me, huntress…”

Blake turned to her, but there was no warmth in her gaze. No warm welcome this time. “Where’s Ilia?”

It was wholly, completely unsatisfactory, to have such an expression on her features. Weiss couldn’t fathom it. She favored this woman, lent her an ear, and shared sexual pleasures. Yet despite this, Blake dared to offer that sort of malignant gaze in return? So be it. “You questioned me, defied my orders, and now you stand there seething. Tell me why I should offer you anything?”

Blake stood up, the final thread of her own anger snapping. Crossing the grass she grabbed Weiss by the splendorous coat she donned. “What am I supposed to do? When you go and do the one thing you know you shouldn’t do, how do you expect me to respond in the face of that?” Blake asked, gripping the fabric so tight it threatened to rip. “I trusted you, Weiss… I trusted you to do the right thing just once!”

Weiss gazed up at Blake, confusion beneath placidity. There was an anger she couldn’t place in those golden eyes, shimmering brightly in ways that kept a sharpened edge. All of it aimed at her. “There was nothing you could have done. I took her because I had the power to do something about it. I expected gratitude from this, at least a warm welcome at my return. Instead you offer me distrust and malcontent.

“A warm welcome?” Blake couldn’t believe it, releasing the coat and taking a step back. “You’re a monster…”

“If I were that, I would have run the girl through.” Weiss said to Blake. “She breaths because of my actions, lives another day. I had every intention of informing you of that, but now I see that kindness was misplaced.”

“She’s family you idiot…” Blake shot back. “We’re the only family she’s got, because your father’s the jackass that killed her parents in cold blood. I told you before, you’ve got to stop acting like everything you do and say is the right thing on every occasion.”

“Yet it is by hand that she lives now.” Weiss said, stepping forward. “It seems you understand very little if you fail to see that.”

“There was a better way…”

"At the time, there was not. You know little of the relic, but you must understand my control was fickle. It would have snapped easily had Winter not collected you."

"You could have just explained that."

"You would have argued." Weiss bit out. "It is what you do."

"Then what do you want from me?"

"I have asked you to trust me."

"You broke that..."

Weiss shot forward, propelling both herself and Blake hard into the ground, a glyph forming beneath her as her eyes caught Blake’s stare firmly with her own. “Trust is given because it is blind, Blake.” Weiss said darkly. “It doesn’t work based on your whims. You don’t get to dictate my actions. My word is utmost law. The moment you defy that, I can no longer lend my ear. I do not give favor to those who do not deserve it. You must pick and choose your battles with authority, and you chose wrongly.”

“Release me… right now…” Blake said tightly.

“No, I quite like you where you are.” Weiss murmured, casting a long glance at Blake’s body, noting the way she flinched. A small sound of derision fell from her lips. “You seriously don’t trust me, do you?”

“Why would I?” Blake asked her. “You’ve given me no reason to.”

“Haven’t I?” Weiss asked then, eyes narrowed.

"No."

Furious at the mere thought, she buried a hand in Blake’s long black hair, pulling her into a searing hot kiss, aura flaring at Blake bit at her. Her tongue pushed passed the teeth anyway, invading the hot, warm mouth that struggled for a moment before melting into it. Weiss let out of soft hum then, one of the first approvals she’d give as the glyph faded and she pulled away.

“Good girl.” She murmured softly, stroking her cheek before rolling off of her. “You do seem to understand that at least.”

Blake breathed shakily, the fury and urge to fight had dissipated when she realized Weiss wasn’t trying to hurt her. The lady of the lands had been making a point. A boorish one, but one none the less. She looked away then. She remembered what Weiss said. If she really wanted to do it, she could have had her way from the start. In an instant. If Weiss didn’t want to take a refusal, she didn’t have to. Respecting her wishes was a choice Weiss made willingly, because she didn’t have the mind to torture people.

She favored compliance, encouraged sound mind. Anger had little to do with either of those things. She was here to talk, not argue. It was no messenger that came, but Weiss herself. She hadn't sent for anyone, this outing an inconvenience to the woman to be sure. Yet one she made.

“You should have just let me go with you…” Blake sighed. “But you made your point, you’re no monster. Just a hard headed idiot like Yang.”

“I do what I feel I must.” Weiss said to her. “You may take slight all you wish, but you must obey my word. These lands and every soul within it falls under my jurisdiction. That is the way of things. I find that it is best accomplished if you trust me.”

“It’s hard to do that when you refuse to explain what goes on in your head.”

“I know this choice to be the correct one."

"No, I don't, Weiss. That's the problem."

"It is correct because I say that it is."

"You're not omnipotent... you don't know... you can't..."

"Your friend is not well, it will take a great deal of time to recover. Until she awakens, she lays floating in the complete waters of the relic. You would not be permitted inside those walls, therefore you have no need to be there. Explaining that to you would have done little good when you cared not to listen at all. Fear drives people to the brink, and fear caked you that night. You could not make a sound decision. If you had been thinking clearly, you would know I'd not harm the child. It pains me greatly to think that you'd see me as someone so duplicitous in my nature."

"Aren't you?"

"I have no issue cutting down worthless people, Blake. What reason would I have to give water to the girl if my goal was to rend her into pieces? Why do that when simply killing her would have been most the most effective use of my time? The girl has done nothing to warrant my vengeance. Why would I intentionally cast a harmful hand upon her? Why take her if it was clear to me she would have died if I had left her?"

Blake looked truly admonished at that. Weiss had a point. A dark one. "I'm sorry..."

Weiss stood then, adjusting the clothing and brushing aside dirt. “I must be on my way, I expect no further difficulty from you in these matters. You will be called upon when the time is right Blake, I have no need to lie. You need to trust me."

“You’re beyond stubborn, you know that?” Blake asked, sitting up as watching as Weiss began to take her leave. The lady of the lands offered no reply.

**Author's Note:**

> So, I've recently started creating content with a long time friend of mine. Together we're known as "The Demented Ferrets". We have all sorts of content being prepped. We stream on Twitch, and now we have a YouTube channel.
> 
> Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/FerretsDemented  
> Our Blog: https://dementedferrets.com/
> 
> If you want to watch us make fools of ourselves on Twitch you can do that here: https://www.twitch.tv/the_demented_ferrets
> 
> Tuesdays: 9:00 PM - 12:00 AM (GMT)  
> Wednesdays: 9:00 PM - 12:00 AM (GMT)  
> Saturdays: 12:00 PM - 3:00 PM (GMT)
> 
> If you want to see our YouTube content, you can do that here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC57x2Xu2IXCbqyZIhxMJ7kA


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